Shackles of Guilt
by Vuken
Summary: Also called "Operation Steel Balls" among my peers, this is a complete reconstruction of Guilty Crown, where I attempt to give more logic and coherence to the story and to redeem our little Shu by making him epic while keeping the "Guilty Crown" theme.
1. Chapter 1

Shackles of Guilt

_Fanfiction based on Guilty Crown,  
>written by Vuken<br>_

_I own none of the characters nor any element of the original work, this story is the result  
>of my passion for the animated series and is meant as a tribute to Guilty Crown's creators.<br>- Vuken_

Chapter 1

Seeker of Redemption

The night breeze coolly blows throughout the rooftop, brushing my hair as I fix my eyes on the phone screen in my hands. The atmosphere's pensive mood is getting into me, making me reminisce about my past as I delve into myself. These past few hours have made me wonder how long it has been since I realized that deep inside, I am dead.

Proof of it is the fact that I have stood idly atop this desolate building, using an electronic device to search for a music that depicts the experience of living. I do not know if it is the songs or if it is me that is broken, but no matter the voice, no matter the tune… it is impossible for me to take joy in any melody.

Someone once said to me that music is the language of the soul; it is a means to reach out for others to share our feelings, our pains and our longings. Happiness, sadness, courage, fear, hope, despair – everything that makes us human is sung out and played, seeking to reach another's heart with what we wish to express.

If one were to judge a person´s nature through the music he enjoys, I would be deemed as a hollow shell who only agrees on what the majority says; a hypocrite lacking a sense of self or personality – a fake.

I may be so. I do not stand out among my peers, nor do I see any meaning in my life… it is as if an air of worthlessness were constantly blowing upon me, making everything worth fighting for drift away in its restless current.

Should anyone grow close enough to me to know my true self, piercing through the mask I wear for the rest to see, that person would rightfully brand me as unworthy of living. Searching a soul inside my body, he would find me to be but a cold and empty shell. My heart died ten years ago, on the day when I caused my sister's death.

Haruka says it was an accident – she insists I had no way of avoiding it and that I keep blaming myself because I saw her die. Back then, in the middle of the chaos that engulfed the entirety of Tokyo, a scene was burned into the greatest depths of my mind.

Even though Haruka has repeatedly told me everything I remember is an illusion I created during the two months I was catatonic after the incident, I am keenly aware that what I saw was real: before my eyes, as my older sister passed away, her body was burst into a thousand pieces… she broke down into crystal shards and scattered on the floor, leaving no trace of her former humanity behind.

I can only recall what happened afterwards very vaguely. The doctors said it is a miracle my mind did not erase everything I saw to protect itself, and see it as entirely normal for me to hold on to only bits and pieces of the events that unfolded.

Lost Christmas – that is the name given to the incident that occurred ten years ago just moments after my sister's demise in December 24, 2029. There was a massive explosion that killed a large part of Tokyo's population, and most of the survivors were infected with a new type of virus devastating enough to be dubbed as the Apocalypse Virus.

Japan was submerged under a state of turmoil in a matter of days as the disease swiftly spread throughout the country, making millions meet the same fate my sister did: a vicious form of cancer quickly developed in the bodies of the infected, which progressively caused their living tissue to crystalize.

Naturally, there was no known treatment for such a disease, and the death toll was higher than any natural catastrophe had ever caused before. Quick to respond to the threat, a number of nations across the world hastily created a multinational military organization named GHQ, and tasked it to send assistance to our dying country in hopes of both keeping its people alive and to prevent the virus from leaving the islands.

The government dedicated nearly the entirety of its resources to fund the formation of Sephirah Genomics, a pharmaceutical group within GHQ that quickly undertook measures to develop a treatment to fight the disease, and it was two months after the pandemic began that the first vaccine to slow down the illness was developed.

With time, the medicine was refined and strengthened, until its effects were enough to save the lives of those who were only suffering from the cancer's early stages. After nearly half a year of suffering from the horrid affliction, order was restored… at a harsh price.

The GHQ took control over Japan's administrative duties and became the official interim government, relieving the Japanese from controlling the fate of their own nation. The country has been under martial law ever since, in fear of a second outbreak happening if proper preventive measures are not kept. New laws and regulations are enforced with an iron fist, and anyone who disobeys them is either incarcerated or executed on spot.

Japan lost its independence during Lost Christmas, and its citizens lost almost everything as well. I did not go unscathed either; I lost my sister, my father, my friend…it was not only Mana that vanished from my life that day.

Haruka is my only remaining family. Father was killed amidst the havoc that broke throughout the city, and Triton – the boy Father took into our family after Mana saved him from drowning – went missing as well.

I have been wondering for years whether he is still alive or not. The shock of killing Mana was too strong for me to maintain my senses alert to my surroundings. When I came to in the hospital the day after, he was nowhere to be seen. Haruka said the soldiers only found me and my sister's remains when they arrived.

Countless people went disappearing during the late 2029 and early 2030. The police force was in no shape of keeping order, let alone searching for a lost child. Haruka did her best to track him down, but to no avail… it has been only she and I ever since.

"I have something important to tell you about Mana."

Those were the last words Triton spoke to me. The fact he never got to tell me all about it has been itching at my conscience to no end. He told me she would not want me to find out, and asked me to meet him at the church when she wasn't around. I headed there, as he asked, but when I arrived –

What the hell was that? I think I just heard an explosion…

Fucking shit, the GHQ is doing a gunfight by the bridge! I've got to run!

Agh, said and done, I'm now running my ass off. The blast happened quite near their headquarters… it's likely there are terrorists around. Perhaps someone is still mad at them for imposing their laws and government over the Japanese.

That through the window… I can only barely see it since it's too far away, but it seems to be an Endlave – one of the large walker vehicles used by the GHQ for mobile combat. Good God, why would they even deploy those? They are war vehicles; shit must have gotten very out of hand to have them mobilized.

What the… another one? Fuck! Two Endlaves are fighting! Do the terrorists even have of those? Shit, shit, shit – I have to keep going, NOW!

Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhh!

Hurry, Shu, make way for the train station! You need to get home!

Ahhh… how much have I run already? I'm exhausted… that's what I get for keeping my ass in a chair most of the day… the elevator back in the building saved much of my breath, but I can't believe I can't stand running for dear life for more than a kilometer or two.

I'm already a bit far from the guns – I can only barely hear their sound in the distance, but I shouldn't stay anywhere nearby… I don't trust the GHQ will care much about my safety if the terrorists happen to head this way.

Lucky bastards those that live nearby, they only need to stay inside their houses and hide. Anyway, the station is near… less thinking and more running.

Good! The lines are still up and working, and the one about to depart can drop me off in the station closest to my home. Thank you, fortune – you are the best.

I buy a ticket and get into the train, finally heading to my house. Terrorists with Endlaves? Man, that's insane. I won't get much sleep tonight… how would I be able to rest after seeing those machines fighting?

Ah, I haven't told Haruka about the gunfight. She works with Sephirah Genomics, so she should already know about it… but I'll still text her to make sure she's safe.

"_There was a gunfight near the Headquarters, are you alright?"_

Now I must wait for her to reply.

I take a seat and glance outside the window, staring at the mega-structure in Area 24. Its purple spiraling tower has always drawn my attention… it feels strange to see such a majestic place suddenly becoming a battlefield.

My phone rings – I draw it out and unfold it to reveal its screen, where I had been watching a music video a few minutes earlier. Haruka texted me back… I'm glad.

"_I am safe and good, Shu, thanks for asking. Are you okay? Where are you?"_

Haruka has always been kind and caring towards me, like a true mother. I'm very grateful to her – it has been she who has kept me in one piece over the past decade...

"_I'm on a train heading home; I saw the Endlaves fighting and fled. Things look pretty calm over here… I think the problem stayed behind. Was it a terrorist attack?"_

Well, I hope she does not get too worried about me – she's bad at dealing with pressure concerning me ever since the rest of our family died. It's hardly surprising, though… I myself am very sensible whenever she gets into trouble; she's all I have left.

"_I believe it was. Lock yourself in and stay indoors until morning; the Anti-Bodies are involved in the matter, and you know how they are – it's better to play safe with them."_

The Anti-Bodies, officially known as the Special Virus Countermeasure Force, is the GHQ pandemic control unit. They are an independent military unit, and work as an elite force with access to special equipment and resources to fight the spread of the Apocalypse Virus. They have the authority to detain and quarantine suspected Apocalypse carriers and, if necessary, use deadly force to contain any outbreaks.

Their definition of _necessary_, however, is very lax… so it is better not to get involved with them at all if given the chance to avoid them. Damn Haruka, why do you mix yourself with dangerous folks like those? She just had to join Sephirah shortly after it was formed…

"_I will, don't worry. I hope there aren't any objections with me going to school tomorrow."_

I sigh as I think about her. I have never talked with her of my thoughts about her working with Sephirah; I feel it is not my place to stick my nose into… but I can't shake off the worries she makes me feel whenever shit goes bad like tonight.

"_Things should be back to normal by then, so don't worry about it. Do your homework and sleep well, Shu. Remember to take a bath too – you won't get any girls if you stink."_

Haruka… I bathe every day, you know that. Man, she's been very insisting in having me getting a girlfriend lately. I guess she's just concerned about me… making small talk like this to distract me from the firefight. Despite the fact she comes home only once a week, we are still in very good terms. I really suck, making her worry like that.

But then again, I'm only 17 – I can't have my life solved out just yet.

"_I will. Take care over there, and get in touch with me if you need anything – I'll help all I can."_

That's what I say, at least. In the more than ten years I've known her, I don't really remember having been useful for her even once. She has always been the independent type, so she hardly ever asks me to do anything for her. It makes me feel kind of useless, though… it is pleasant to have someone rely on you from time to time.

"_Thank you, Shu. I love you."_

Sigh. I guess I should do something to change my way of being… there is no way Haruka will ever count on me if I stay as miserable as I am, and even Mana would get mad at me if I stay clinging to a past that is impossible to rewrite.

"_I love you too, Mom. Good night."_

For once, I feel something stirring inside of me. This gunfight somehow managed to punch some sense into me, making me realize that by laying low for as long as I have, I am nothing but dead weight to those around me.

Shit, this pensive mood really is getting very deep into me.

Even now, Haruka is somewhere in GHQ's headquarters when terrorists are on the loose, and I am able to do naught but text her wishes about her well-being. This sinking sense of impotence is not right… I wish to be someone who can protect those dear to him.

I failed to do so once before. I killed Mana, and Triton slipped from my grasp right before my very eyes. I have sinned, and I have let my weakness keep me from holding on to those that were close to me.

No matter how much I apologize nor how terrible I feel, redemption is not something I can achieve through words alone. My weakness is becoming unbearable, as the world around me makes me realize I am nothing but a puny boy who is at the world's mercy. Had Haruka been hurt or, even worse, killed because of the gunfight, the most I could do in response would be to get mad and rage at the world.

As I am now, I am just a kid who hasn't yet grown a pair of balls befitting for a man. I have had enough of my powerlessness… I wish to grow. I will grow. Starting tomorrow, I will strive to overcome my own limits until I make a name for myself to be proud of.

I will stand, vowing not to lose anyone anymore. Through any means available to me, I will live to be one who protects the ones he loves. Perhaps by doing so, I'll be able to relieve the pain of having been the survivor… and maybe someday I will liberate myself from these shackles of guilt that keep me imprisoned in my own past.

Just wait and see, Mana. Look at me from wherever you are, and witness how your brother atones for the crime of killing you. Ouma Shu hereby swears that he will not allow anyone close to him to become a victim ever again. Mark my words, sister… I will stay true to them with all I have.

The same goes to you, Father. You went right behind Mana shortly after she died… after I made her die. I guess I can't blame you, old man… it would be painful for her to be all alone. Having known you, it's safe for me to say that you aren't all too bitter about having been killed during the riots. Even though you were immersed in your job every day, I know you loved both of us… I could feel it, deep inside.

Forgive me, Pops. I fucked everything up, but I'll try to keep things from getting any worse. While you are looking after Mana, I'll do the same for Haruka, you can count on me for that. I'm going to make sure you'll have something to praise me for if we ever meet again, so I'd start looking for the appropriate words already if I were you.

And Triton… I know it is rather late, but have to say I haven't forgotten about you. Somehow, I'll track you down. Hell, I swear I will – I don't know how, but someday I will find you and I WILL make you tell me all you were unable to say back then. This is a baseless assumption from my part, but I feel you are still alive… You can't possibly be dead too, man, so please be safe, my friend… please be safe.

2


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chance

The day has dawned, and I yawn drowsily once back again on the same train I took home last night. The difference is I am now lifelessly heading to school… As I expected, I did not get much sleep last night, despite my resolution of not hesitating anymore.

After getting to my house, I found myself whipping up some dinner and then crawling around on my bed, finding little hope of getting some rest. Despite of my inspirational, high and mighty monologue inside the train, I cannot even get myself to sleep when I want to. In the end, I spent most of the night fooling around the internet to kill time until I could continue no more.

"Morning, Shu!"

Ah, Hare is here.

"What's that big yawn for?"

I keep my eyes on my phone's screen, wondering what to say. In its screen is the interface of a search engine, with the words 'firefight by GHQ headquarters' written on it. I had attempted to find if the incident had been already reported, yet found no results. Apparently, everything has been covered up.

"Well…"

I think twice before answering, wondering if making her worry is a necessary evil.

"Were you surfing the net or something?"

She's looking at my phone curiously.

"Or playing a game?"

Should I let her know?

"Reading?"

Nah, I think not. Hare is too gentle to be troubled with these matters… I know having terrorists around is dangerous, but if things come to it, I'll be there for Hare to help her. For now I'll let her ignorance be bliss.

"Something like that, I guess."

I reply vaguely, not showing much interest to the contents of my phone's screen.

"Huh. Fine, then."

She must think I'm a very indifferent individual. She's right on spot, though… it's been a while since I have last cared much about the world around me publicly. Though last night I decided to change, I'm having some difficulty in actually making it happen. I'll take it slow for now, I guess… forcing the pace may be overdoing it.

"There's many of them outside today."

Hare again. She's referring to the numerous soldiers and military vehicles stationed outside… it seems they are still mobilized in case the terrorists are around, or perhaps they did not get all of them last night.

"Yes, there's usually less of them by this area. Perhaps they're looking for someone? They seem to be quite alert. Hare… what did you do this time?"

I ask her jokingly, poking fun of her excessively passive nature.

"Me? Meanie, you know I'm a good girl…"

I crack a smile, just a bit. Hare is the one person who never fails to cheer me up, partly because we have been together for quite long. We live in the same department complex, go to the same school, and even sit nearby in the same classroom. We have known each other since junior high school, and grew somewhat close after learning we are practically neighbors. It is only natural, it seems to me, that we would develop a close friendship.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding… you would never harm anyone."

Hare smiles back at me happily.

"Right?"

The ride to school continues. We eventually drop off on the nearest station and walk the rest of the way to our destination. Ah, school… the place of opportunities and intellect. Already, I can feel my high spirits from last night vanishing into thin air.

Once inside the classroom, I sit down on my chair and wait for homeroom to start.

"Hey, Shu!"

That one calling me is Souta, one of my quasi-friends. He started talking to me by the beginning of the year for some reason, and I merely tagged along with what he said. I've never known how to deal with people very well, and I am not the type to approach others. My shyness resulted in this – superficial friendships formed with those who came close to me. Though I have made a few quasi-friends this year, it is Hare who is happier about it. She never ceases to worry about me… Really, she is more than I deserve.

"Shu?"

Stop halting my train of thought, Souta… I already know what you want to ask.

"I'm sorry; I'm not done yet with that video for the competition."

He looks at me angrily. He asked me to do it two weeks ago, yet I encountered one critical problem I have been unable to fix just yet that prevents me from finishing the production: though I already have the images and their overall arrangement, I have no idea which song I should use… that's why I was out last night, wondering if the night sky would give me an answer. I got a bullets concerto instead.

"I didn't come to harp on you about it…"

Huh? That's not what he wanted to ask? I thought people only came looking for favors…

"What did you want, then?"

I ask him honestly, trying not to sound aggressive, but he still looks at me in displeasure.

"I'll get it done by the deadline, Souta, don't worry."

Ah, shit. He said that wasn't it, didn't he?

"Now look, Shu, I – "

Yahiro, my second quasi-friend, stops Souta's arm as he attempted to grab my shoulder.

"Let it go, Souta. He says he can do it, after all."

Waving his hand at me as he drags Souta away with him, Yahiro adds.

"Okay, we're counting on you!"

What on Earth was this all about? Really, I –

"I feel bad for Souta."

Hare again, eavesdropping on us.

"Why? I think I'm trying hard to be socially perceptive here."

I ask her, stating the truth.

"You're not succeeding."

Harsh girl…

"Oh…"

I sulk, looking away. I was thinking of having lunch with her today, in hopes of getting us to be a little closer. It seems Haruka's pressure is starting to make effect on me, as I have slowly started seeing Hare less like a friend and more like a potential girlfriend. Yet here she is now, pointing her finger at my social awkwardness.

"You're way too dense."

Damn it, Hare, stop punching my psyche when I'm thinking good about you.

"Rise!"

Kanon, the class representative and close friend of Hare's interrupts our conversation, announcing the class will begin. Heeding her call, we all stand up to start the school day.

Morning classes pass uneventfully, and I am now heading to what has served as my feeding grounds and hiding place – an abandoned university warehouse near the school grounds. I did ask Hare if she wanted to grab a bite with me, but she said she already had plans with Kanon. Not wanting to intrude, I decided to wait for a later chance.

I have my laptop with me, so perhaps I'll search a little for a song that might go along with Souta's video… better do something productive when I have the chance.

I open the door and enter, careful not to do much noise. I have never liked drawing attention to this place; I like it best if it is left untouched by third parties.

"_Oh wild flower… __"_

I guess I'm actually in the mood of looking for the damned song; I can even picture a girl in the floor, with her naked back towards me, singing inside the warehou–

"_Ah…could you please tell me… __"_

…

"… _why people hurt each other… __"_

I can't believe it.

"… _and fight each other? __"_

Someone IS inside the room… but… her voice!

"_Oh dignified flower, __"_

For the first time in years, I –

"… _what can you see from there? __"_

I'm speechless…

"_And why can't people… __"_

Its beauty is unparalleled, unlike anything I had ever heard before.

"…_forgive each other? __"_

Enthralled, I fix my eyes upon the girl before me… she is not someone I know, but in an instant she has blown my mind away. I take a step forward, to be closer to her –

She stops singing. I accidentally hit a can with my foot, and its noise revealed my presence to her. The girl gasps, still in the floor, and turns to face me.

A mechanic noise fills the room as the two of us react to each other. There's a small four-legged robot rushing aggressively towards me – I attempt to jump away, but the little machine shoots a thick string at me and lands a hit on my leg.

The string whirls around it and constricts it with pressure, then pulls away and brings me down. Damned little robot, I can't believe it… My bento falls and hits the floor, and the box's lid opens in the process, spilling its contents.

The girl looks at me fearfully, slowly crawling away while holding her clothes to her chest.

"Wait, you've got the wrong idea! I totally didn't want to –"

I rush to get up, despite the little robot's efforts to keep me from doing so, and hastily explain I am not a pervert trying to peek on her while she was partially unclothed - I just happened to walk in!

The girl does not seem to be very convinced, though, and hastily distances herself from me… but bumps hard against the desk behind her. She curls up and rubs the back of her head in pain, using her right hand while keeping her clothes in place with the left one.

Now that she has moved, I see there is blood in the floor where she was sitting a few moments ago. Looking back at her, I notice she has a bloodied bandage wrapped around her left arm. Her clothes look burned and torn in several places, and her overall image is one of a battle survivor – she looks quite roughened up.

I crouch down to match our faces' altitude and look at her timidly. The robot is still pestering me, but if I lean my weight to my restrained leg I am able to bear its pull.

The girl slowly calms down, seeing I mean her no harm, and looks back at me.

"Are you alright?"

She doesn't answer, but the robot seems to show less hostility towards me.

I look down in the space between us and notice a first aid kit open in the floor. Now I remember, there was one of those left here… I see she made use of it to treat her arm.

"I'll call an ambulance for you, let me – "

"No!"

She halts my words desperately. I look at her, perplexed… why would she not want medical attention? She looks terrible... almost as if – oh shit. I'll ask.

"Are you… is someone chasing you?"

The little robot is making a weird noise. Now that I see it up close, I realize it has a bullet hole on its upper section, and one of its legs is badly damaged. I see… this is only an assumption, but I believe this girl was involved in the gunfight last night.

"Funell…"

The robot reacts and fires a second string at me, aiming for my face. I duck down and evade it, just barely. It seems I was right – the girl is acting too defensively.

"Wait, wait! I'm not turning you over or anything, I just want to help! Please!"

The girl breathes out and lowers her shoulders, slightly lessening her tension.

"Let him, Funell."

The robot stops its third attack, as it had already drawn the string that missed my face back to its place and was ready to fire again at me.

The girl's red eyes meet my own, and both of us look at each other in silence, discretely analyzing the other's body language to understand our intentions. Only the robot, Funell, does any noise as it lowers its stance to jump at me – it still suspects me.

"You were in the firefight yesterday, weren't you? The whole army is looking for you."

She glares at me and digs her free hand into her clothes… and draws a gun. She points it at me, ready to fire. Yep, I hit a nerve… I should've been more subtle.

"Whoa, whoa! Hold on! They're looking for you, right? If you fire, they'll come here right away – that thing does not have a silencer, and the windows are wide open, see?"

She looks to the side and confirms that, indeed, most windows are either open or broken – firing would immediately reveal her location; even if the Anti-Bodies do not hear the sound, the school definitely will and won't hesitate to call them.

"Geez, calm down… I said I'm not turning you in. Can you please point that somewhere else? Let me at least talk a little."

The girl reluctantly lowers her gun and looks away, sighing.

"Sorry."

Hey, she's even apologizing. Would this be the Stockholm Syndrome? I'm starting to believe she isn't really a bad girl, despite having been close to killing me. Wait, what?

Mother of Jesus, I am going insane. How am I even keeping my cool in the first place? Hold on, no – don't question it. For fuck's sake, Shu, if you are calm, keep it that way. There is no gun pointed at you anymore, just a bleeding girl and an angry robot… keep acting as you have so far, and stick your attention to the lady in need.

She's awkwardly looking away from me. Funell releases the string gripping my leg and clumsily moves towards her – it can barely move because of its ruined leg. I slowly move closer to her as well, careful not to appear menacing.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine… Uh… do they have you cornered?"

She looks at me suspiciously, but doesn't react adversely. She's still resistant towards speaking to me, yet appears to be accepting the fact she can't really do away with me unless I willingly walk away.

I must smooth things over, make my intentions clear to her.

"I'm willing to help you, uh…"

Her name…

"Inori…"

She introduces herself, though reluctantly and only in name. Her voice is cute, even when she's merely speaking. Well, I at least made some progress… I got her to talk.

"I won't let them catch you, Inori. I know this is very sudden… but would you trust me?"

Ah, God… what am I doing? Did I even taste my words before I said them?

"… why would I?"

Yep, that's the question. She has no reason to believe in me. I should be desisting by now, since she's the one with a gun. But you know what? Fuck this! I'm getting shit done, and I'm doing it now. Saint Michael, guide me.

"I am your best chance of escaping. The area around the headquarters is full of cameras, and even if they didn't catch your appearance, your clothes will give you away in an instant – they are bloodied and burned everywhere, it's impossible for you to move in the open without raising suspicion.

Therefore, you can either continue wandering around the way you are, or you can take a gamble and accept my assistance. What will you do?"

She fixes her eyes on me, carefully examining the situation and considering her best possible course of action. However, I am confident in what I said… by the looks of her, I think she can barely even walk – if she treated her wounded arm with the first aid kit here, she must have lost a lot of blood before she made it from the headquarters to our location.

"I don't have any other option… please… take care of me."

She humbly pleas for my protection. Who am I to deny?

"Wait for me here, I'll be back in a moment… I need to get something before we leave. Some of my lunch is still clean, feel free to eat it while I'm gone, it won't be long."

I walk out of the warehouse, leaving Inori behind. I wonder how she feels now… she might already doubt me as I left immediately after she asked for my help. However, I absolutely needed to leave so I can draw the ace I have under my sleeve: the largest obstacle to allowing Inori's escape is her outfit… and I have just the ideal disguise.

Forgive me, Hare… I'm opening your locker now. It is very fortunate she keeps a spare uniform inside in case something happens to the one she's wearing… and it is also very fortunate the password lock she's using was originally mine, but I gave it to her when she lost her own at home.

I feel bad for taking her stuff, but she did turn me down for lunch, so I'll call it even with this. Besides, Inori needs it urgently, so I cannot leisurely ponder about any other options.

Nobody sees me as I stuff it inside my bag… with the uniform concealed, I can return to Inori and have her change before we go away from school… I need to find a safe location for her so she can rest at least until she recovers.

The warehouse is now in sight, so I only need to –

Well, fuck. Those were gunshots just now… from inside the room.

I run frantically and poke my head inside to see what's happening. There are four soldiers in the ground, all of them bleeding profusely before Inori. The pink-haired girl in a vivid red outfit (with an otherworldly cleavage, I must add) is staring at them while Funell unleashes electric discharges on their bodies, one after another.

"God… Inori-san, are you hurt?"

She points the gun at me. I hastily pull my head back, and a bullet hits on the other side of the wall where I'm standing.

"You betrayed me!"

Did I? Man, she got it all wrong… the soldiers found her by themselves.

"Calm down, girl! I went to get this for you, now change quickly and get ready, we're moving out of here pronto!"

I take Hare's spare uniform out my bag and wave it around by the door's opening, so Inori can see I am serious about helping her. Thankfully, she realizes the soldiers' arrival was a misunderstanding and does not blow a hole through my hand.

She says something from the other side, weakly, but I can't hear her so I press her on.

"Come, pick the uniform and get changed fast!"

She hesitates before replying.

"I can't."

What?

"Inori-san?"

I call her name questioningly.

"I can barely move… I can't change by myself."

Oh God… please don't let the next line be… no, wait… please LET the next line be…!

"Can you… help me?"

… how did it come to this?

I'm inside the warehouse, having accepted Inori's request to remove her ruined clothes and to equip the disguise I prepared for her.

My nose is bleeding. Jesus, Allah and Buddha have bestowed their blessings upon me, granting me the privilege any healthy male would kill for. No, wait, what am I saying… I'm merely helping the damsel in mistress… yes, yes… I have no other option.

Get a hold of yourself, Shu… this is not the time for this – the military will barge in at any moment! I can hear the commotion from school even now… it has been less than a minute since Inori killed the soldiers, and I am dearly hoping nobody will come and see where the noise came from… but it is a given that more Anti-Bodies will come.

Inori is changed and ready to leave now, after I did the enjoyable job in a record time of one minute. We should still have one minute or two left before more any reinforcements get here… we must leave immediately.

The two of us make it for the street, with Inori holding on to my arm for support. She has lost too much blood – as she said, she can barely walk because of the dizziness and general weakness of her muscles.

I stop a taxi and ask the driver to take us to a park near my home. It has been three minutes since Inori killed the soldiers; I have made sure not to waste too much time – if the Anti-Bodies get here and surround the area, we are done for.

Inori casually leans on my shoulder as if we were a couple. The driver asks if she is sick, to which I comply – I tell him she felt ill at school, and asked me to take her for a walk to the park for fresh air.

The cab we're in passes by an Anti-Bodies convoy headed to our school… our escape was in the nick of time. Inori's clothes, as well as Funell, are stuffed and hidden inside my bag – I now thank the Gods I bought an unnecessarily large one this year.

Our journey home proceeds without issues, somehow, and the cab leaves us in the park. After paying the driver and seeing him off, I wait for the few passersby to walk away before I crouch in front of Inori.

"Get up, I'll carry you."

She lets her body upon my back without complains. She's really at her limit…

I walk the rest of the way to my house, careful not to be seen by any neighbors. Fortunately, almost everyone is either at school or at work, so there's hardly anyone I need to avoid. We eventually arrive to the department complex, take the elevator up and find ourselves in front of my door.

Heh… here's a nuisance. I have to use the hand scanner on the door to open it… and the GHQ undoubtedly has access to this information. If they suspect me of being related with the shooting incident near school and decide to look for me because I suddenly did not return to classes, they can easily find I am at home… I need to find a way around it.

"What's wrong?"

Inori asks, seeing I am hesitating on using the door.

"The Anti-Bodies will know I'm at home if I we walk in… if they relate my absence at school with my assistance on your escape, they'll track us down in no time."

I explain the situation to her, still wondering what to do.

"Take Funell out… he can keep the system silent."

Whoa, he can hack into it? Now, that's convenient.

"Really? This little bugger is useful after all..."

As I take the quadruped robot out of my bag, it attempts to reach to my face with its front legs, baring four metal claws in each, all sparkling with electricity. Did it get mad with me for calling it a bugger? This thing sure is smart… its AI seems to be very elaborate.

I place Funell close to the digital panel. The round robot reaches with one if its legs, then its tip opens and reveals numerous plugs and cables popping out of it. One of them fits into one of the panels' slots, and the little machine in my hand begins its hacking work.

Surprisingly, the door opens without having the panel activating… the little bugger really did it! My, my… I shouldn't judge a book by its cover anymore.

I put Funell down on the floor and enter the department.

I head for my room and lay Inori down on my bed, finally allowing her the rest she so needs. Now that I see her closely, I realize she is terribly beautiful… I can hardly imagine anyone daring to point a gun at her; her sheer innocent-looking appearance would be enough to make me hesitate if I were her opponent.

I have heard from Haruka how ruthless the Anti-Bodies are… if she is found and captured, she will be submitted to torture and interrogation, to then be cold-bloodedly executed without facing trial – she'd be falsely said to be a stage IV infected and would be killed. The virus would simply be injected after her death… they have done this before; Haruka has warned me about their underhanded methods.

Anyone who opposes the GHQ's power is killed without mercy… this is the harsh reality we face now in Japan. Somehow, without us being able to do anything about it, we lost our own country to a foreign military organization because of the Apocalypse Virus pandemic ten years ago.

Inori falls asleep quickly, and Funell places itself between me and her. The little bugger still has little trust on me. Looking at the girl breathing peacefully before me, I decide to head to the kitchen and prepare some food for her – she needs to resupply the blood she has lost, and also has to heal the wounds she has suffered.

I am aware I truly know nothing about her – she never explained her circumstances to me; it was I who formulated assumptions and acted according to them. All I am sure of is she is in danger, and that her survival is entirely up to me.

So, I will not abandon her – I will live up to my own words, and I will make a change in myself. A few days ago, I would have run away… but not anymore. Saving a girl's life is hardly the worst thing in the world, and so, I will dirty my hands if needed be for her… despite something about her making me wonder if I am doing this for her sake or my own.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Respite

For once, I curse my lame cooking abilities… I can't believe all I can think of making is onigiri. There's some cup ramen I can make as well, but these could hardly be called a good meal. Most of my diet consists of either food I order, or whatever Haruka leaves for me on the fridge once a week. My bento today was the later, and was also the last of my provisions… she didn't prepare much when she came home two days ago.

I'd normally go grab something from a nearby convenience store, but it would be best for me to stay hidden at home until Inori can move properly. I have no other option, I guess… she'll have to make do with the onigiri while I find an alternative. I return to my room carrying a tray with Inori's meal, which includes the rice balls, a glass of milk and the few remains of my bento.

As I sit down by her side, Funell glares at me with its robotic eyes. How did they even program emotions into it? The little bugger fascinates me. That aside, I must wake her. Uh…

"Inori-san?"

She's asleep very deeply, despite having been here for only thirty minutes or so. I fear for her health, though… I don't know how much blood she has lost, and I am no medic to assess her. I have heard a thing or two about medicine from Haruka, but I have no… wait.

"I see… yes, that'd work."

I speak my mind unknowingly as an idea arises, and I notice I accidentally succeeded in waking the pink-haired girl lying on my bed. She looks at my face quietly, slowly turns her eyes down to the tray and then back up to me. For a terrorist, she seems shy.

"I made some food for you… it's not much good, but please bear with my poor cooking."

I explain myself as I carefully hand the tray over to her. She sits up and softly takes it from me to then place it upon her lap. She silently picks a rice ball and raises it up to her mouth to give it a bite.

She glances at me timidly as she chews.

"Thank you… um…"

Ah, I'm so impolite – I never told her my name.

"Shu. Ouma Shu."

She smiles faintly at me, seeming grateful.

"Thank you, Shu… it's good."

That's a surprise. She liked it? There's still some hope in me after all.

I smile back at her stupidly. I've heard that when you start liking a girl, it is almost unavoidable to act like an idiot around her. My social awkwardness has not given me much battlefield experience with the chicks, so if I'm around her too much I'll end up saying or doing something barbaric.

It'd be better for me to keep showing off… I want to save this girl, but parting ways with her would really be a waste. If I land a good impression, perhaps we'll keep in touch after I get her out of trouble?

Man, what am I thinking? This is not the time.

"Shu?"

See? I'm quiet now, and she's noticed. However… now that I realize, I'm not smiling anymore. I believe I look rather grim, since Inori appears to be worried. Good, I haven't stepped on the friend zone yet – I should stay away from it as much as I can.

"How are you feeling? Inori-san, right?"

I ask her and confirm her name to complete introductions.

"Inori… call me Inori."

I think I'll blush. She's skipping honorifics and is asking me to call her by name already.

"Yes, sorry…"

She's also addressing me by name, so it should be a given I speak to her likewise. I scratch my head awkwardly as I turn my eyes away from shyness.

"I'm feeling better now. I'll continue on my own by night, so please don't – "

I'm mad at her words, enough to interrupt her midsentence.

"Don't worry about you? I can't agree to that, we just arrived here. Blood takes days to regenerate; you won't be in condition to move anytime soon."

Inori looks disheartened after I cast her false statement aside. Though she looks like she wants to refute my words, she keeps her objections shut. She knows I'm right – if she left the house right now, she would collapse in no time.

"How's your wound? Is it still bleeding?"

I proceed with my questions, pointing at her left arm. I must understand her health condition to decide whether I have to do or not what came to my mind a moment ago.

Inori touches her bandaged arm softly, slightly rubbing it to ebb the pain away.

"The bullet did not hit any bone or major artery, but I took very long to patch it. The hemorrhage is controlled, but I lost too much blood..."

She objectively describes the nature of her wound and the extent of the damage she has suffered. I still need more information, though – she looks very dirty… I must know where she has been to as well, but I'll ask for that later. First…

"Did you apply disinfectant?"

If she catches bacteria in her wound, she might lose her arm if left unattended. Given how she cannot get professional medical attention, I should prevent infection as much as I can.

"No… the kit did not have any."

Naturally… it was an old and used first aid kit. It wouldn't be strange if the bandages were old as well; they might have already been dusty by the time she applied them.

"Finish your meal, I'll go get the bath ready for you."

I say that as I get up, watching how Inori shakily picks up another onigiri. She's quietly accepting everything I say and following my instructions. I don't know if she's growing trust for me, or if she's playing along because she has no other choice.

I'd say the true reason is the later… she can hardly move. She's eating very slowly, looks pale and dizzy, and still seems to be unable to walk by herself. Her blood pressure seems to be low, but apparently she isn't suffering from shock yet.

I leave the bathtub filling with warm water, and then head for Haruka's room. There's nothing else I can do – I have to recur to a rather drastic measure, but it is necessary to ensure Inori's life is not at stake. Thinking of this, I scramble through Haruka's medical equipment, until I at last find it – the blood transfusion kit.

Long ago, I once asked Haruka how to transfer blood to another person. Now that I remember about it… it seems I have been somewhat inclined towards saving people since longer than I thought. Haruka understood this faster than me, however, and complied in teaching me how to operate the equipment.

The knowledge is here… now I need a strike of luck to have Inori being able to receive my blood – if we're of incompatible blood types, I'll have to find blood elsewhere.

I return to my room and show the empty blood pack to her.

"O+."

She tells me her blood type without missing a beat – she immediately understood my intention. Fortune is in our favor today.

"Excellent, I'm also O+. I'm good and healthy… would you trust taking my blood?"

Inori looks down without replying, seemingly disturbed by my proposition.

"Are you sure about this? Your blood…"

I can feel where this is heading to. Judging from the tone of her voice, I believe she feels like she'd be asking too much of me if she accepted my offer.

"Don't worry about it; I'm giving it to you. Will you take it?"

She stays in silence for a moment, but then softly breaks the ice.

"Please… I need it."

Ah, dear girl… your voice is killing me. She sounds too loveable when she's reluctantly accepting assistance; she might incur a cuteness overload on me if I am not careful around her. I damn you, Inori, for putting my manliness on such a difficult test.

Keeping my thoughts to myself and saying no more, I walk over to her and pick her in my arms, leaving the transfusion kit in the bed. Transferring some of my blood to her is alright, I can manage it, but it will be meaningless if her arm gets gangrenous… I need to care for her injury first.

We head for the bathroom, where the tub is ready for use. I gently sit Inori by its side and prepare to leave back for my room to fill the blood pack – I'll do the transfusion once she is clean and her wound is properly patched up.

"Shu… could you stay?"

Ahh… why so cutely? Why did you say it so cutely, Inori!? I can't possibly say no. As I think of this, she continues adding fuel to the fire.

"If I pass out I may drown…"

Oh God. She won't say it, will she?

"I… need you to look after me."

Boy, she did. I sigh, feigning some resistance to the idea. She'll probably grow suspicious of my intentions if I happily accept her request – staying cool is best for now.

She does look very beaten up, and her passing out is not really out of the question… perhaps I should have anticipated the possibility of this scenario showing up. She does not have much of a choice but to ask me to stay, so I'll be prudent and keep a bit of distance between us since we're still strangers in the end.

"I'll go get some disinfectant and a few bandages to treat you once you're done bathing. Can you get into the tub by yourself? I'll be back in a moment."

At the very least I'll pass on stripping her clothes off… doing so a second time would kill me. Back there on the warehouse we were in a real pinch and had no other choice, but right now… together alone in my house… I'd better keep some distance between us.

Inori nods her head weakly. Is she sulking? Nah, don't imagine things, Shu…

I gather the required items and return to the bathroom. Now that I notice, Funell was left outside… at least the little bugger won't be bothering me. Since the robot is so emotional, in one way or another, I perceive it as if it were a third person… perhaps it'd be awkward to keep Inori company with the metallic quadruped as an observer.

As I enter the room, I notice Inori's back resting against the bathtub. She's sitting with her knees to her chest, so as to keep the blood still inside of her packed and clustered tightly.

Naturally, her wounded arm is outside the water – heating it up would probably cause more bleeding, given the blood vessels open up to the heat. The bloodied bandage lies on the floor, and only a sloppily attached piece of cloth is covering the hole in her arm. I bet it must've been difficult for her to wrap it up using only one hand, especially if I take into consideration the poor condition she was already in when she found the first aid kit.

"I'm back. Do you… need help?"

I mean help to clean her body, of course… but I can't ask the whole sentence, so I'm being vague by giving a largely interpretable question.

"My back… and my hair."

She got my point, alright.

Inori leans forward a little. I pour liquid soap onto the washing mitt and rub it softly against her back while I discretely look away. Shu is being a good boy and he's behaving himself, despite how tempting the girl before him is. Ouma Shu is really amazing.

Right, whatever. I'm starting to like this, though… I didn't know girls were so soft. Inori herself is fairly cooperative – even though I can discern she is blushing even through the paleness of her skin, she is just sitting there quietly, allowing me to do my enjoyable job.

Once done with her back, I apply a fair amount of shampoo onto her hair and gently massage her hair follicles, gradually moving my hands towards her hairs' tips. I just messed up, though… I used my own shampoo on her. I should have used Haruka's; hers smells girly, unlike mine. The girl before me doesn't seem to care, though, as I can sense Inori relaxing - the stress she had built up is finally being lifted.

Her relief passes on to me too, but I won't let the moment distract me. After I finish rinsing her hair, I reach for the disinfectant and the cotton I brought with me. I drench the latter with the yellowish fluid and carefully remove the reddened cloth covering Inori's wound.

The hole looks terrible – judging from the size of the injury, she must've been hit by a high-caliber round. I can't avoid wincing upon the sight of it.

"Inori, I'm about to clean your arm."

The whole bathing process had been silent, so I am now breaking the ice, since I have to get her ready for the pain she's about to feel. The disinfectant is a new iodine-based mixture, and Haruka has told me that despite its effectiveness, it hurts like the living hell.

"Be gentle on me."

I'd most certainly like to be so… but I can't do anything about the disinfectant. I'm sorry.

"I'll brush only the edge of the wound so you can see how it feels."

Saying and doing at once, I slightly touch her exposed flesh with the yellowish cotton. Inori reacts very much, but manages to suppress the gasp from escaping her lips. She seals her suffering down, and nods to me to proceed.

I continue my task in silence, diligently cleaning her wound with utmost care. Inori, despite her efforts, is clearly having hard time with the disinfectant. I cannot stop, however… I have to look after her, even if I have to see her in pain because of it.

In the end, I successfully clean and patch her arm with new and clean gauze. She still needs professional help to stitch the injury closed, as I have no idea how to do that, but I have already exhausted all within my power to assist her… save for one thing.

After helping Inori out of the shower and turning away as she wraps a towel around her, I walk with her back to my room, our arms crossed onto each other to help her in case she gets dizzy and falls.

I lead Inori to my bed and I sit right beside her before I grab the empty blood pack, sterilize the needle and poke it into my arm. Blood flows from me into the plastic bag.

Heh… I'm weak, after all…

"Shu… why are you smelling alcohol?"

The girl caught me red-handed, pressing the open ethanol bottle close to my nose.

"Ah, this? Just to keep focused, don't worry."

I lied. I hate needles – they make me dizzy whenever I use them, and I might even faint if I don't smell this thing in my hands. Moreover, the syringe used for blood extraction is freaking huge! Damn, I can feel the thing poking right through my flesh.

Acting like a sissy in front of the girl I've just rescued is unacceptable, though… so I hope she believed my lame excuse. Ah, the pack is full. At long last I pull the accursed piece of metal out of my beloved veins and stick an adhesive bandage upon the pierced spot.

With everything ready for the transfusion, I pile up my pillows so Inori can lean on them while still sitting down and then help her to accommodate herself comfortably. The plan is to dry her hair while the fluid is transferred to her, so she doesn't have to wait idly feeling nothing other than the needle. She is a girl, after all… I must be considerate.

She lends her right arm to me, and upon minor inspection, I find a vein suitable for injection and carefully place the needle in, allowing my extracted blood to flow into her. With everything in place, I draw a spare towel I brought with me from the bathroom and show it to Inori.

"Would you let me?"

She's quick to understand and swiftly turns her back to me. I reach for her beautiful long hair and proceed to dry it. Upon looking at it closely… I notice something strange about it. I had originally found nothing strange about her hair being pink – it could have merely been dyed that color… even while I was washing it moments ago, I paid little attention to it because I was focused on keeping my racing heart from bursting.

But now that Inori is somewhat clothed and I can look at her more calmly, I realize her hair is pink all the way down to the root – it is actually its natural color.

Yet… does natural pink hair even exist? This is a first for me… I had no idea. Something is nagging me not to pry too much into her personal details, and I intend to pay heed to my intuition for now. I still don't know who I am dealing with, and I may easily stumble into information I did not really want to know.

As I finish doing her hair, Inori softly lies back on the pillows and closes her eyes. The plastic bag is nearly empty, after having replenished roughly half a liter of blood. The transfusion's effect is evident, as the girl before me slowly regains some color in her skin. She should be a bit livelier after getting proper rest.

I extract the needle and patch her vein up with an adhesive bandage like I did to my own earlier. Inori seems to be in dire need of sleep, judging from the spent look in her eyes. She must've spent the entire night running away from the Anti-Bodies… that should've left her exhausted, more so after bleeding for so long. I guess I'll let her be for now… all the questions I have for her can wait until she wakes up.

Yes… I myself need to rest as well. Last night was more burdening than it was refreshing, so I'll just sit here on the couch and close my eyes… peacefully sharing the moment of respite we have before plunging into the flames of hell.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Motive

There is nothing more enjoyable than being woken by a beautiful girl calling your name. How did I, Ouma Shu, find myself in this situation is still a mystery to me. I guess this 'helping the ones in need' business pays off well after all… I don't want to open my eyes yet – it is night by now, but I still wish to delight in her melodic voice a little –

MOTHER OF GOD!

I jump off the couch instantly, clutching my butt with my hands as it sears in an infernal pain. I groan and jog in circles, openly displaying my displeasure and suffering.

"F- Fu- Funell you bastard! He shocked my ass, Inori! My ass! What on Earth!?"

The little bugger is showing its mechanic claws sparkling with electricity… its damned little eyes look like they are even trying to mock me. I swear upon my name I'll punch the programmer who dared to birth its AI.

"You weren't waking…"

Huh? Why is SHE the one who is pouting? Agh… there goes my pleasant sleep.

"Geez… be more subtle, at least…"

I sit down on the couch angrily as the ache slowly fades away.

"I was… I called your name, but you only smiled."

Heh… she's the cool anger type. It'd be hard to imagine her screaming back at me. As a proof of this, she's showing her offended mood still in a tranquil and soft voice. I'll calm down as well, I guess.

"I'm sorry, alright, I'm also one to blame. But you didn't need to use Funell on me… if you were so desperate, you could've drenched me in cold water or something – anything is better than an electric shock."

Or you could've given me a kiss; that'd have been nice. Swallow that, Shu – don't say it.

"Shu, we need to talk."

Good thing she ain't my girlfriend, or else that phrase would give me the shivers. Every fight, without exception, has those words as its prelude – even if they are spoken cutely like she did just now. However, I agree – we do need to talk, very urgently.

I nod in approval.

"I'm all ears, Inori… ladies first."

Shu the gentleman, giving the girl the right to lead the conversation.

Inori looks down nervously, as if tasting her own words before speaking them out. I'm sure she must be fairly careful about what she says to me… we haven't clearly stated our allegiance, and she does not know a word about my reasons or motives behind helping her. In her eyes, I'm just a random passerby who arbitrarily offered a helping hand to her.

"Why?"

Huh? Does she want me to take the initiative and do the talking, then? I tilt my head slightly without replying, showing I did not understand her question. Given how she appears to be rather timid, I guess she's not very used to talking with others. That makes two of us, unfortunately.

"Why are you helping me?"

Ah, that.

"You were hurt, and I happened to pass by. Do I need a reason to help a girl in need?"

Question dodge: activated.

Shu's gallantry is rocketing sky high.

"I'm a wanted criminal… you could be killed for doing this. Why do you protect me? Shu… even your blood, to me. Why?"

Question dodge ineffective - gallantry is no longer believed on in these days.

Jokes aside… I can no longer avoid answering. But I can't just casually say 'I killed my sister ten years ago and I still feel very bad about it'… I do not want Inori to feel as if she were a replacement for Mana, nor do I want to perceive her as such… despite the fact I am indeed helping her out of my sense of guilt. Damn it all.

I sigh, having no choice but to speak. I hate doing this.

"There was…"

I start the line, but I'm unable to continue. I dare not bring myself to say it. I'm pathetic… showing off and acting all confident and dauntless, yet unable of being honest with her. I feel like she'll just feel pitiful towards me if I say the truth – I don't want that. But just what is it that I want? Do I want to save her, or do I want to be saved?

I don't know anymore. I think I never did… but I will stick to my words – I have already treaded down the path of protecting her, so I will carry on without looking back.

Inori is looking at me intently, still waiting for my reply. She looks delicate and innocent, despite calling herself a criminal. Yes, I will tag along with her until I get her back to safety… I cannot back down now, nor do I intend to do so.

I don't wish to feed her with my sob story, but I do not want to lie either… so I'll explain myself through another truth, though it is only part of my motivation.

"That voice back then… You don't seem like a bad person to me. It was either your voice or your words, but seeing you bleeding while singing that song really touched me. I still don't know your circumstances, but whatever it is that the GHQ is chasing you for, I am sure you have your own reasons for being the criminal you call yourself to be.

This may just be a baseless assumption from my part, but I refuse to believe that someone with a voice as pure as yours would be evil. Music is the language of the soul, you see… and back then I felt that you are worth giving my life for.

I know I am acting blindly, but… is there anything wrong with me in doing this?"

Inori is speechless.

Serves her right, she left me speechless back then too.

"You are very extreme, Shu…"

I laugh a little.

"Call it love at first sight."

…

Was that out loud? Well, fuck.

Inori looks away nervously, blushing.

This awkward silence…

Funell, do something!

Damn it, I hate them all… stupid little robot won't fix the atmosphere at all.

I guess Inori noticed I didn't actually intend to say that, since I'm as red as hell like she is. Fucking hell, Shu, why did you even say that? I can't say it was a lie, because I truly feel like it wasn't… the comment was entirely involuntary, it just came out by itself!

Today isn't April fools, is it? Nope, there's no cheap escape from this... can't say it was a joke. I'm screwed. What a shitty way to realize one's own feelings… so long for discretion.

Inori reaches for Funell and places the bugger atop her legs, still blushing very hard but yet saying nothing. She raises a metal lid on the robot's top and extracts a glass cylinder containing a… whoa. I have no idea what is inside the tube, but it looks freaking fantastic – Haruka would drool over it if she saw it.

"This is the reason why I am being chased."

For real? The Anti-Bodies mobilized such a large force to retrieve this little tube?

"Did you steal it from the headquarters?"

I ask, to which Inori nods.

"The mission went very roughly… I was isolated and had to escape alone."

I can see that… she was very beaten up when I met her a few hours ago. As I remain in silence, she continues her story.

"They saw through my stealth suit. I was shot, and eventually thrown off the bridge."

I'm glad as hell I wasn't drinking anything right now, for I would've spit it all in horror.

"Off the BRIDGE!? Girl, are you alright?"

I lean forward to her to ascertain she is indeed fine… I'm surprise she survived the fall, let alone having swum her way back to land with that wounded arm of hers. Now that she mentions it… if she was in the bridge, then –

"So one of the Endlaves was your ally? I saw two of them fighting on the bridge yesterday moments after an explosion."

I ask the question that had been bugging me.

"Yes, that was Ayase. The explosion inside the building was Gai; he destroyed the lab where they made the Genome. We were to meet outside, but I was spotted and…"

Whoa, whoa… watch the names, I don't know them and perhaps shouldn't be hearing about them. She's being rather open with the information she's telling me.

"So that's why you were isolated… if you fell off the bridge, it's no wonder they haven't been able to find you. The same goes for the GHQ, though."

Inori nods.

"But why did you steal it? Is this thing dangerous?"

Inori nods again, more vividly.

"Very. Gai said we had to retrieve it at all costs to protect the world."

Hoh… big words indeed…

"The world? From whom, the GHQ?"

Inori nods yet again. She looks cute doing that, though… I like it. I should give her more yes or no questions from now on.

"The GHQ is dangerous. Sephirah Genomics is working in a project to exploit the Apocalypse Virus. If they use its power, they could achieve world global domination."

Now, that's news… I thought they were working to eradicate the virus, not cultivate it. Haruka… what on Earth are you getting yourself into? Something inside me tells I should verify the information Inori is telling me… though I don't feel like she is lying, this Gai could be tricking her into working for him; Inori seems to be the easily influenced type.

Well, well… I started by saving a girl and now I'm involving myself in some insane conspiracy theory? I could write a novel out of this.

"So you belong to a group that opposes them, I guess."

Inori nods! Ahhh, I love her. Keep doing that forever, girl.

I must be insane, being so cheerful about her cute nodding when she's explaining such serious problems to me. This is what I get for mixing with her, her strangeness has rubbed off onto me. That's part of her charm, though… so I don't mind at all.

"Gai intends to stop them, that's why we all follow him."

I fiddle my chin with my fingers as I think. As I thought, Inori does not seem to have evil motives fueling her actions. However, I am still skeptical about the conspiracy theory she's taking about… I should meet this Gai in person and confirm if he's legitimate or if he's merely fooling this innocent girl.

Before I talk, however, Inori does.

"We are the GHQ's worst enemies. That's why you will be killed if you are seen with me, Shu… I will continue on my own, so please – "

"If you're asking me to let you go alone, I'll pass. I've already boarded the boat you're on, so I will not be backing down… even if I wanted to, it is likely the Anti-Bodies already have tabs on me because I wasn't at school after you fired at the soldiers. My fingerprints are all over the place, too… I bet I've already been branded as your accomplice."

Inori looks down, regret showing in her eyes.

"Shu… I'm sorry."

She seems to feel very guilty about having involved me in her dangerous world. Don't look like that, Inori… you make me want to comfort and spoil you. Damned girl is driving me silly… liking someone is dangerous.

"I helped you out of my free will, don't worry about it. I'm not so weak as to not bear the weight of my own actions… so I'll take responsibility for anything that happens. You can rely on me; I'll continue fighting by your side to whatever end."

Inori lies flat on the bed, apparently blown off by my words. She's right about me being very extreme… I've met her just today, yet I already feel unfaltering loyalty towards her. If I had to, I would indeed take a bullet for her. Why is this? I originally wanted to redeem my sin of killing Mana… but I think I'm growing something more personal for her.

This may seem somewhat strange, but I feel an air of familiarity between us. Leaving aside the incident where she nearly blew my head off with her gun back in the warehouse, I have felt as if being together with her were something natural for me. Is this what they call chemistry? It's weird, really… I had never experienced it before.

Inori seems comfortable with me as well… she looks fairly relaxed, despite the dangerous situation we find ourselves in. I'm curious as of why she is accepting my assistance, though… back at school she didn't have much of a choice, but I wonder what she thinks about me now that I've explained some of my motives to her.

Will she reply in kind, or will she only make use of my aid and dispose of me later? She seems like a good girl to me… I doubt she's the type to heartlessly discard others, but trusting another person always carries a degree of risk. I think it is still too soon to ask her, though… so I'll believe blindly in her for now. This isn't the time for sentimentality, after all; we should get moving before the Anti-Bodies take the initiative on us.

"Funell's tracking system is broken."

Inori speaks as she lies on my bed, pointing to Funell's bullet hole. She read my thoughts.

"So we can't find Gai's location?"

I ask, wondering what to do.

"They cannot find us either… we have to contact them directly."

Oh… so we do have options.

"We can do that… do you have his number?"

Inori nods! Sitting down was one thing, but Inori nodding while lying on my bed just warms my heart like there's no tomorrow. Ahh, this girl…

I bring out my cell phone… and find it is broken.

"I think I fell on it when Funell took me down…"

Yup, that must've been it… how unfortunate. I liked that phone.

Inori shakes her head. Hmm… that in itself has its own charm, but I prefer the nodding.

"That's good. They won't track us through it. Every cell phone has a GPS system on it, did you know?"

She explains her reasoning quite soundly.

"Really? I didn't know that one… they stopped providing the service a while ago, but the government still uses it, huh?"

INORI NODS!

Man, I'm so happy. My life is fulfilled.

"Shu?"

Ah, she noticed… I'm smiling stupidly again. Stop it, Shu, get a hold of yourself.

"So how do we call Gai, Inori?"

"Public phone."

"Aren't the lines tapped?"

Inori nods! I can keep this all day long, yes or no questions are the best.

"The GHQ will look for us."

"Can't we use Funell for that?"

Ow… she shakes her head. I have to try harder to get a yes.

"If he hides our location, Gai won't find us either."

I see…the GHQ can tell where we're calling from, and so can Gai. If either of them is able to pinpoint our location, the other is able to do so as well. However, if we use Funell to relay a false location for us, we'll be misleading Gai too.

So… I have an idea.

"Give me the number, I'll go call him."

"Shu?"

"Your hair is too flashy, they'll recognize you in an instant if you go out. I can blend more easily with the crowd, so I'll do the call. Just tell me a way of making him know I'm on your side… like a password or a keyword."

Inori fixes her eyes on me, judging if letting me do the call is really the best choice.

"Gai does not trust strangers, he will – "

"Inori… if we are found, we are dead. I won't blow our location. I have covered for you this far, so you can trust I will keep my word on this one."

"Gai will be furious with me."

"It's better to apologize to him than to beg the Anti-Bodies for mercy."

"You're too persistent."

"Damn right, I am. Now tell me a password, I want to get you safe as soon as possible."

"Shu…"

"Inori…"

She sighs. It seems I'm winning her over. So close… so close…!

"December 24, 2036."

"Huh? That's the password?"

"It's the day when I met him."

"Ah… I see."

Such a detailed memory… seems I have a rival. Or am I the usurper? We shall see.

"Also, Inori, what's the name of your group? Does the GHQ know it?"

"The Funeral Parlor… GHQ does not know it yet; we have done only covert operations."

"And last, your full name. Again, does the GHQ know it?"

"Yuzuriha Inori… it should be unknown as well."

Inori, you trust me too much. I could be very well selling you off for a fortune with all you're telling me… I'm glad you believe in me. You're lucky I'm being honest about helping you; someone else might be betraying you really bad with all you're saying.

She's really innocent… now I feel an even stronger need to protect her.

"I'll be right back, then… there's a telephone booth nearby."

"Funell kept the door silent, you can leave without being noticed."

"Ah, that's excellent. Stay hidden, then… I won't be gone for long."

And so I leave Inori behind, heading to the elevator so I can go down the five floors I'm above the ground. Once again at ground level, I discretely make way for the subway, watching out for any soldiers that may be stationed in the place. There are indeed some in the area, but I succeed at sneaking through them. Peak hour is fantastic – becoming part of the group is a walk in the park. I feel like that guy from an old videogame… Ezio, was he?

Now, I enter the telephone booth. There's people outside, so I'm somewhat concealed. I should make this fast. I insert coins instead of using my phone card so as not to reveal my identity and dial the number Inori gave to me.

After a couple of rings, a voice answers… our avenue of escape is within our grasp at last.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Ascension

This will be insane.

What I am about to pull off came directly out of an anime, and its odds of failure are extremely high. The situation I am in is already insane by itself, however, so adding a bit more won't make much of a difference.

I forgot to ask Inori one thing, though: just how smart is this Gai? Well… if he's leading a fight against the GHQ and his identity is still hidden, then he has to be good.

"Yes?"

There, he picked the phone. A serious voice came through the phone's speaker, evidently showing a deep form of grimness in its tone.

I draw a deep breath, preparing myself. This is madness…

"This is the Pasta _Parlor, _right? I'd like to make an order, the name is _Yuzuriha Inori._"

The telephone lines are undoubtedly being tapped, so I need to feed the GHQ with bullshit while still giving the message to Gai. I did some emphasis on the important words so he can tell what I'm trying to say, but God… I hope he doesn't answer with a 'what are you talking about'?

"Do you have any coupons? Just saying the _code_ is fine."

YES! This clever bastard is good; the concealed call might just work after all!

"I have one. It says it expires on _December 24_, so it should still be valid… the code is _2036._"

The man on the other side of the line seems surprised, as he gasps lightly. I'm guessing he realized I am here indeed on Inori's behalf, since judging from his reaction I can safely say he understood the password.

"That's a special order coupon, sir! I bet_ your party must be pretty big."_

He sounds casual and cheerful now that he replies. Is he happy Inori is alive, or is he just keeping an act so the officers listening to our conversation won't suspect a thing?

At any rate, he mentioned a party… does he mean our mess with the GHQ?

"Not yet, actually. So far it's only the _two of us_, _but_ I think I'll ask for a lot of food anyway… _we might get some uninvited guests _along the way. I'm really glad the coupon works, for _we may really need the Parlor's help_."

Gai laughs.

"Uninvited guests are the worst, we understand the situation. _May I ask why Inori-san is not calling, though?_ She's one of our most frequent costumers, you see."

Heh… yes, it must be very strange for him to see someone else calling in her stead.

"_She was in a real pinch_ _with the_ _uninvited guests'_ problem; the neighbors _are keeping an eye out for her_, so I insisted I should be the one to order the food so nobody would see her."

Stop asking about that, Gai! If there are spies on us, they will see through the fake call and will come and get me. Agh, perhaps asking for him to believe me was too much.

"I see… that does happen to her sometimes, she's rather popular. _So, would you like for us to deliver the food at your home_?"

Sending help to my place, huh… I'd rather not; there are too many Anti-Bodies in the area. If a firefight breaks out, they may end up messing the whole department complex.

"No, I think the neighbors would pay a visit if you did. We'll go and pick the order on your restaurant; I trust Inori should know the way."

Now the Funeral Parlor knows we're going to them. I they are serious about helping us, then they should be mobilizing some support for us, hopefully a transport to pick Inori up.

"Ah! Our main store is currently being remodeled, but we can give you the alternate address we're using at the moment…"

Hmm… so they're not at their headquarters. Or is their headquarters mobile? I have no idea. In any case, Gai tells me where to meet with him. It is a bit in the outer edge of the city, but there's a train station relatively nearby. We should be able to walk our way over there once we drop off, so things look good.

Also, I didn't hide this line's location; Gai should already know where we are. There's still some hope of getting reinforcements from him if he takes the initiative and decides to search for us while we're making way to the rendezvous point.

"I'll be there in a bit, then. Thanks!"

"Our thanks go to you as well, sir! Please send Inori our best regards, and tell her we will be waiting for her… she's very important to us."

And there it goes. I hang the phone and head back to my home, again dodging the soldiers guarding the area. Who would've thought Souta's taste for videogames would pay off in real life? Though it's only virtual experience, I do know a thing or two about tactics and stealth after having played with him a couple of times. The bastard is obsessed with infiltration missions, and speaks of them often… I should thank him for it someday.

It was he who taught me that I would be doomed if I went barging straight in through everything. Casually waiting for the soldiers to look elsewhere and then using other people as a means for blocking their line of sight towards me has worked well so far. We should hurry and make our escape while there's still lots of people outside… we need them to sneak past the Anti-Bodies' careful watch.

I knock the door to my own home, and Inori opens it slowly, peeking outside suspiciously in case the one calling wasn't me. She lets me through silently. I walk inside, taking my shoes off, and Inori closes the door behind me.

"How did it go?"

"Fantastic… I doubt the GHQ will pay attention to the call, and Gai told me where to meet up with him. We're leaving in a moment; I'll just go get something for you."

Inori tilts her head, wondering what I'm talking about.

"Something for me?"

"Yup, you can keep it."

We head to my room, and I open my closet. Searching through my things, I find a new sweater Haruka gave to me this past Christmas… a girl's sweater. The genius just took the first thing she stumbled upon in the shopping mall and brought it home, wrapped as a present. I understand she was very busy with work that day, but randomly picking a gift was harsher than giving me nothing at all.

Well, it is fairly useful right now… it has a hoodie on it, so Inori can conceal her hair without raising much suspicion – it's starting to get a bit cold now that night has fallen.

"Here, take it… I think it is your size."

Inori picks the black sweater and looks at it curiously. Upon touching it around a little, she puts it on. It's a little big for her, but it should do the trick.

"It's soft."

"Yeah; Haruka gave it to me last year, but I never used it. She lost the ticket, and we couldn't return it after we realized it was a girl's. So, it is yours now… I hope you like it."

Inori grabs the hoodie and covers her head with it, pushing her hair down her neck to make it less visible. She got the point as of why I gave it to her, that's good.

"Who's Haruka?"

Oh. It seems I also have a bad habit of saying names without the others knowing about them… I guess I can't complain about Inori anymore.

"My mother. She's at work almost every day, so she hardly has any time for me. Do you have family, Inori?"

She looks away awkwardly. It seems I messed up… I may have hit a soft spot.

"I have Gai."

Well, that's something. I'm getting jealous, though…

Uh… why is there an awkward silence again? Damn.

"We should be going."

Was I too rash? I may have looked rather hasty; I hope I didn't reveal my emotions.

"Yes… let's go, Shu."

We leave the house, stepping into the night. As I look out over the handrail, I see there are still people in the subway station, so we should be able to infiltrate the place without much difficulty. The only problem is now there's two of us, and I'm taking my backpack with me to conceal Funell… we're a bit more bulky than when I went to the phone booth a while ago, so our chances of being spotted are higher.

Inori and I take the elevator and go down to ground level again, and then make way for the stairs leading underground near the park where the taxi dropped us off. We mix in with the people walking to the same direction, step into a couple of stores when soldiers pass by, and continue our journey to the station.

As we are about to reach the stairs, however, a soldier comes walking up through them right towards us. Both Inori and I look away discretely, redirecting our steps to go around him. It seems he hasn't seen us yet; there are still a lot of people around us, so our cover hasn't been blown despite being so close to him.

This is fortunate; we are succeeding in avoiding detection… only a few steps and we can –

"Ouma Shu!"

...

Inori and I freeze on our tracks. Why, God? Why did I…

"Where were you at school? The police went crazy interrogating everyone, why did you -"

… have to run into Hare in this precise moment?

The soldier immediately reacts to my name and turns around, ready to approach us.

I can still get out of this… If I come up with an excuse, I can -

There's a gunshot.

Inori acted before I could – she instantly turned towards the man, wielding her gun, and fired a round pointblank to his head.

Hare screams in horror, and so does everyone around us.

Inori takes my hand and breaks running towards the street instead of the subway. There, she points her gun at a terrified motorist waiting for the green light.

"Please, your keys and you phone."

She's being polite? For all that I hold holy, is he really being polite? She looks timid even as she's robbing someone of his phone and his motorcycle. Her pistol is a fairly convincing reason not to argue with her, however, and the man does as told.

Inori jumps in the back of his bike and offers the key to me.

"Can you drive?"

"A bit… let's go!"

I take off my backpack and give it to Inori. She puts it on and wraps her arms tightly around me. I have only had practice for getting my license when I turn 18, but that is enough for me to know how to operate a bike. Naturally, I'm not a very proficient driver… when the Anti-Bodies catch up to us in hot pursuit, we'll be done for.

We rush out of the scene, leaving Hare behind. Damn it! She'll never see me the same again. I know I just lost something I'll never be able to get back to normal. Agh and she'll know it was I who took her spare uniform for Inori… she's still wearing it, so Hare will realize it without fail. She's going to hate me after this for real.

"Shu, careful!"

Ah, fuck! I nearly hit a car. Damn, I'm thinking too much… I'll focus on driving.

There are sirens ringing around us… not surprising, considering Inori killed a soldier right in the middle of their searching area.

We squeeze our way through the cars, making use of the heavy traffic around us. At least we'll manage to delay our capture by a small margin, given the Anti-Bodies cannot maneuver easily through the vehicular congestion.

And there's helicopters looking for us… fantastic.

I change our route, aiming to use an underground section of the streets built a few years ago… we mustn't let their air support keep track of our location.

"Shu, brake!"

As we are about to enter the tunnel, Inori extends her hand past my face above my shoulder and opens fire. Her gun's noise is deafening, but I keep my composure and do as she says. As I see ahead of me, I notice the walls outside the structure are splattered with blood bursting seemingly out of thin air.

Inori mentioned something about a stealth suit back at home… that'd mean the GHQ also possesses the technology. As proof of this, the bloodied silhouettes of several men lie dead on the floor.

I turn and leave the road, rushing through the sidewalk where we are covered by trees from above. As we arrive to our improvised hiding place, several bullets fly past us and hit the ground by our sides. They have snipers atop the buildings around us…

We are pinned. We cannot enter the tunnel, nor can we go back – if we go into the open, the marksmen in higher ground will kill us, but if we stay here we'll be caught as well.

Inori holds onto me more tightly, also aware of her impotence. Despite her impressive combat skills, she cannot overcome the numeric disadvantage we find ourselves in, and even if she could, the snipers are likely to be out of her gun's range.

However, as we resign ourselves to our somber fate, something unexpected happens – several metallic objects fall around us through the street and release a thick cloud of smoke. I can only see very vaguely through the growing smokescreen, but I can discern the figure of an Endlave deactivating its stealth field above the tunnel's entrance.

"Get out of here, Inori! I'll cover you!"

A female voice screams out its speaker, calling to us… the Funeral Parlor arrived in time.

"That's Ayase! Shu, hurry!"

"I know!"

But I can't be reckless! All the drivers around us are freaked out because of the smoke and bullets – our allied Endlave itself is firing towards the soldiers rushing to us. We stay on the sideway, desperately dodging the cars that leave the road in the midst of panic and confusion. I can't see a thing – the smoke that is blinding the snipers is also blocking my own sight; it is a miracle we haven't been hit by anything yet.

Suddenly, something heavy lands by our side. Judging from the mechanic sound escaping from it, I can guess it is Ayase's Endlave.

"Quickly, move!"

Her voice shouts at us again, as the metallic giant swings its arms in front of us and moves the cars before us. I can hear a heavy sound behind us as well – a car crashed against the Endlave as it is blocking the way so we cannot be followed, allowing time for us to enter the tunnel at last.

Uttering words of gratitude, I turn the accelerator and speed through the dense smoke, receiving a hail of bullets all over around us. Ayase absorbs most of them, saving our lives in the process as we leave the open air and enter the underground street complex.

A loud explosion bangs behind us, and the tunnel's entrance collapses. It seems Ayase gave it her all to ascertain we would not be followed… I will not let her efforts be in vain.

Inori opens fire again with her gun immediately after the smoke we dragged inside dissipates, killing a trio of soldiers waiting for us inside. Apparently, they had already anticipated us to take this route to dodge their air vehicles.

I lower our speed a little to avoid crashing against one of the many cars fearfully driving inside the tunnel and continue going forward while Inori maneuvers to reload her gun with a new magazine in case more Anti-Bodies show up.

The girl riding by my back is insanely dangerous. Though she seems shy and quiet, she has already killed at least ten men today… just what kind of training has she undergone?

"Gai should have the other end of the tunnel secure. Keep going straight."

While saying this, Inori takes out the stolen phone and swiftly strikes on its screen to make a call. I can guess who she's dialing.

"Gai, it's Inori."

On spot.

I can't hear the other end of the conversation, however, so I am left in doubt as of what he is saying… I'll have to wait until Inori is done to know.

"We're on our way, please hold, Gai!"

Ah shit. Inori sounded desperate… if something got into her, it must be very serious. This is the first time I've seen her getting emotional, so it's likely we'll have a rough time ahead.

Inori closes the phone, ending the call. That was quick.

"They're trying to seal us in."

"What?"

Seal us in as in destroying the other entrances? Along with the several hundred people together with us? Are they insane!?

"Gai is keeping them off in the entrance ahead of us, but he cannot cover the rest. If he is overpowered, it will be over for us."

"This is madness! Why are they –"

"I told you, GHQ is dangerous. They don't care about its people."

… I can see that, alright. The cars around us are stopped – it makes it harder for me to continue advancing, but I go between them as fast as I can in our desperate race against time. Those GHQ bastards; I can't believe they're willing to kill everyone only to drag Inori and me down with them.

I need an urgent word with Gai – I need to know the truth about all this fighting. I was resistant to believing in what Inori had told me at home… but now that I witness them firsthand, I'm being swayed towards the Funeral Parlor's side in this conflict.

We continue making our way through the crowded tunnel, until we find ourselves face to face with a group of soldiers. Their uniforms, however, are different… and Inori is not killing them either. Though we are still away from the entrance, the men clad in black attire have made a way open for us and seem intent on allowing us to escape.

"Those are my friends."

I sigh in relief. Gai was indeed fast in sending aid to us… he even went as far as mobilizing a sizable force capable to stall the Anti-Bodies for a brief time. I lower my speed a bit as I close to them through the gap they created among the clustered cars, intending to exchange a few words.

As I raise my palm to greet them, one of the men waiting for us speaks first.

"Keep going, Gai is waiting for you outside. Here, take this."

He tosses a communications transmitter to Inori, which she catches without issue despite our being in movement. I turn briefly to look at her through the corner of my eye and notice she already had something equipped on her – she is wearing some form of screen in one of her eyes, as if it were a rectangular monocles displaying information.

Inori tugs lightly at one of my arms. I look down and see she is giving a transmitter to me as well. I take it and place it on my ear, careful not to lose the bike's balance. I accommodate the microphone by my mouth as well and bid farewell to the soldiers behind us as I hit the accelerator once more.

"Inori here. Where are you, Gai?"

"I'm right ahead of you, you'll see me shortly. Is your friend there?"

"Ouma Shu, pleased to meet you."

"Ouma?"

Gai laughs, despite the sound of guns raging around him. Even without the transmitter, I can hear their distinct noise coming inside the tunnel… we are speeding towards the open once more, and the smell of gunpowder is starting to fill the air.

"You sure found someone interesting, Inori."

I hear his words as we burst out of the tunnel. What we see before us is nothing short of a battlefield – there's dozens of soldiers and vehicles facing off, those on our side desperately trying to keep the entrance clear for us while the Anti-Bodies in front seek to bring us down with all they have.

I stop the bike before the ongoing onslaught, horrified of what my eyes are witnessing.

"Gai, the Endlaves are heading to your position, we cannot hold them any further!"

A female voice speaks to us through our transmitters, telling us we're short on time.

I can hear Gai talking in return.

"Understood, Tsugumi. Is Ayase safe?"

"She just lost her craft, so you need to get out of there fast! My radar is broken; I cannot see the battlefield anymore!"

Uh… I can hear them fairly close. Matter of fact, Inori does as well, given she says –

"Shu, dodge!"

I release the brake and accelerate, rushing to the flank of our allied forces. A trio of Endlaves lands where we used to be, much to the surprise of our comrades. The massive combat walkers fire missiles at the tunnel's entrance, effectively sealing everyone inside – we made it out by a very small margin.

The soldiers in front of us turn and fire at the Endlaves, but to no avail – their weapons are no match for their heavy armor. Among the valiantly fighting men is a blonde-haired man in the distance, who is visibly shouting orders to everyone around… that blazing figure in the middle of the field must be Gai, their leader.

"Get Inori out of here, Shu! We'll keep them at bay for as long as we can!"

"Gai, wait!"

"Go with him, Inori! He'll keep you safe!"

Why the hell do you show trust towards me, Gai? I'm glad you do, but I'm not as reliable as you may think! Damn it, I can barely keep the bike straight as we're rushing out of here for dear life. FUCK!

Inori is firing her gun furiously behind me. I'm not looking back, or else we'd crash, but through the bike's mirrors I can see the Endlaves are following us. I catch a glimpse of the shooting, and see among the hail of bullets being fired at them that Inori managed to destroy the closest one's visual system.

Being blinded, it opens a series of lids on its top and fires FUCKING MISSILES AT US! DUDE, ACCELERATE NOW!

Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhh I make way through a building in the last second, and the rockets blast the living hell out of it – the entire structure is shaking and threatens to fall on top of us in any moment.

It was sheer luck that the door was open when I plunged inside – I'm forcing my way through the horrified people, but there's a crystal screen in front of us impeding our way out… I think this a shop, since the display windows are enormous.

The whole place is in darkness, as the whole electric infrastructure was made a mess by the explosions – I can only see through the bike's light as I hastily continue my way, probably trampling on a few people on the ground as I do.

Fucking damn it, I'm becoming the patron saint of collateral damage this day! Inori is firing desperately at the window's glass before us after having hastily reloaded a new mag once more. The crystal shatters, but I mess up and crash right into the wall beneath the newly created exit.

Both Inori and I fall to the floor and roll among the sharp shards scattered everywhere around us. We're full of wounds now, but there's a greater concern for us at hand – the building is collapsing. I force myself up, ignoring the excruciating pain shooting throughout my whole body, and firmly grasp Inori in my arms.

It seems she was hit harder by the fall, as she can barely move again. Damn, what am I doing? I was supposed to protect her; how did things go this way?

"Hold on tight, Inori… I'm saving you."

I draw out all of my remaining strength as I pick her up and order my legs to run, bearing how her weight pushes the glass sticking to our clothes down my skin. I make as much distance between the falling building and us as possible, barely dodging the molten debris flying through the air.

The Endlaves pursuing us stay in the distance, waiting for the dense dust and smoke to disperse. Their pilots are unforgiving, however, and blindly open fire at us with their heavy machineguns. Our fate lies entirely in the hands of luck now – the bullets will eventually hit us, and both of us will die.

But I can't allow that – I swore to myself I would protect her. For my sister's sake, and to redeem my sins from so long ago, I have to let this girl survive. The only atonement for a killer it so save another life - even if it costs my own, I cannot miss the one chance I found to forgive myself! I want her to live, I want her voice to sing aloud once more, I want to give her the chance to see a new day – I want Yuzuriha Inori to live, even if I have to use my own bone and flesh to shield her.

I throw ourselves to the ground and I lay atop Inori, protecting her with my body. The Endlaves are aiming a little bit above us, but they'll get down to us in no time. Even if only for a moment, I will protect her – they'll have to step over my dead body to lay their hands on her.

"Forgive me, Inori… I failed us."

I apologize to her before my death. I know I won't make it alive out of here, but I still have hope that I might buy enough time for Gai to arrive and save her… I'll have to place my hopes on him, whoever he may be.

The bullets are getting closer to us, telling me my time in this world has almost reached its end. I press my eyes shut and wait for it – the swift embrace of death to come and claim me. Before it does, however… Inori speaks into my ear.

"No, Shu… you forgive me."

I am still trying to understand what she is saying when a thick piece of metal pierces my neck, shooting an unbearable pain throughout my entire body unlike anything else I had ever felt before. I can feel something being injected into me – this repulsive feeling is that of a syringe; I still remember it vividly from the blood transfusion back at home.

My body reacts in an instant – my muscles are shaking violently, and my senses are going rampage. What did she just do? I feel as if something were taking control over me. My mind is being permeated by a foreign substance, and my body feels as if it were being torn apart and rebuilt over and over again.

Amidst the hell raging inside of me, and the inferno of bullets raging around us, I feel a hand holding my own… it is Inori's. She pulls it slowly towards her chest and holds it tightly against it. I open my eyes to meet hers before me – our gazes dive into each other's, swiftly forming a bond between our searing hearts.

"Shu… use me."

I understand the meaning of her words with absolute certainty. It must be because of what she injected me with, since I am acting entirely out of intuition now – it is as if my instincts themselves were telling me what to do, like it was something entirely natural.

I plunge my hand into Inori's chest and grasp what I can only describe as the core of her soul. A majestic blue light erupts around us, soaring high into the sky, piercing into the eyes of the entirety of Tokyo's inhabitants as I pull out the object I found inside of her.

Threads of silver swirl and sway around us as I pull her essence out, crystalizing it and weaving it into material form – that which I hold in my hands is a physical manifestation of her spirit brought forth into reality, shaped in the form of a massive longsword that would normally be impossible for me to wield.

The laws of reality seem to have been broken by the sheer pressure of the sword's presence, given how I seem able to swing it around with utmost ease.

The dust around us is now gone, blown away by the surge of power that manifested from Inori's blade. I raise my eyes towards the pair of Endlaves standing before us… they ceased firing their weapons as they were entranced by the radiance that shone in front of them, and little do they know that this moment of hesitation has led to their defeat.

I charge towards them with incredible force – I don't know if this strength came from what Inori injected me with or if the sword itself is enhancing my abilities, but before I can even beat my eyes I'm already within striking range.

I swing down the sword at the Endlave before me and slice it in half as if I were cutting through butter. This sword is insane… I had always perceived Inori as a dangerous being, but the weapon I drew from her goes far beyond the wildest of my dreams.

The second Endlave is still stunned in shock and is unable to react in time – I mercilessly tear it to pieces with Inori's sword moments after destroying the first one, and now both of them are wrecked beyond recognition behind me as I walk back to Inori.

She is on her knees, looking at me in silence. I walk towards her and firmly dig the sword's tip downwards on the floor between us. A surge of energy gushes out of the blade, knocking away all the glass shards covering our bodies. I reach for her and pick her up, holding her with one arm and clasping her sword with the other.

I know what I have to do – Gai and the others are still in need of assistance. I'll go and help them drive the Anti-Bodies back so we can retreat to a secure location.

"Let's go."

I turn around, offering my back to her. She climbs onto it and wraps her arms around my neck. Once again, I feel a strange air of familiarity towards her… it may be because I have her soul in my hands, but… something feels strange. I feel way too familiar with her, almost as if we were close relatives… almost as if she were Mana herself.

I cast my thoughts aside and we return to the battlefield, where the Funeral Parlor had been pinned down by a vast number of Endlaves. I swiftly run through them, cutting them down one after another while I carry on my back the girl I must protect.

The war vehicles shift their attention to me and open fire with their bullets and missiles, but to no avail – though I have had it in my hands for not even a few minutes, I already know that the sword is a perfect weapon in both offense and defense. As their projectiles are about to reach me, Inori's sword generates numerous shields around us and defends us from all harm.

The Anti-Bodies before us can only watch in horror as their weaponry is proven to be useless against their near-godlike opponents, no matter how fast and desperately they empty their ammunition on us.

I lash out the blade at them in reply, unleashing thick threads of silver strips to attack them from a distance, rapidly piling up Anti-Bodies casualties. The tide of battle turns in a matter of seconds – the remaining enemy forces scatter and flee, and most of the Endlaves deployed by the GHQ lay wrecked beyond repair throughout our surroundings.

This wasn't even a fight anymore, it was slaughter: I made them bite the curb and then stomped my sole against their faces. Just in the world did Inori do to me?

The few remaining Anti-Bodies flee the battlefield with their morale shattered as I wonder about this. The blonde-haired man I saw before approaches us in the middle of our remaining allies' celebration, and he extends his hand out to me as I let Inori down my back. I offer mine in return, and we shake hands solemnly, finally meeting face to face as battle-forged brothers.

Though it was I who butted my head into their conflict, I already feel deeply grateful to Gai for having assisted us in our escape – if it were not for him, both Inori and I would have been killed. As our eyes meet, a gasp escapes my mouth… it cannot be –

"It's been a long time, Shu. I am Tsutsugami Gai… but you would know me better by the name of Triton."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Reunion

A metallic sound clangs as Inori's sword hits the floor, since I unknowingly loosened my fingers around its hilt. The ringing noise is followed by the impact of my knees hitting the floor as well… both of them give in to the shock of hearing those words – that name.

I'm gripping Gai's – no, Triton's shirt before I know it. I'm looking up to him, motionless. Rather than that, I'm petrified. It is as if all the nerves in my body were disconnected to avoid having a meltdown.

"Are you for real?"

Something escapes my lips, but I am unaware of what I said. Inori's sword dematerializes by my side; threads of silver surge in its stead and return to Inori, entering back to her body through her chest.

Triton grasps my shoulders with his hands and brings me back to my feet.

"It's good to see you are alright, my friend. Let's go… we need to move out while we can."

He turns around and speaks with the rest of the people around us, but I am still too mindfucked to say anything at all. Inori moves closer to me and holds my arm worriedly, supporting my weight. She has no idea of how hard today's events have hit me.

She says something, but I don't hear her words. All I can discern is my own voice inside my head, continuously repeating the same statement: Triton is alive.

Time passes… I think. I'm inside a vehicle now, or so it feels like. There are trees passing by outside the window, so we're definitely moving. I realize I'm sitting down, and Inori is still holding onto me. She looks worried.

But man… Gai is Triton? Then Triton is leading the Funeral Parlor? What kind of mad dream is this? I've feared he was dead for years! And now he's a full-fledged revolutionary? Something is extremely wrong here… perhaps I never snapped out of my catatonia and I've been imagining things, making unbelievable illusions in hopes I would get to see my friend again.

Then there's Inori's resemblance to Mana… that's why I feel a strong desire to become close to her. I see, that makes sense – I have created a mental image of my sister, but knowing that she is dead, I gave her a different personality and a new name. The human mind is an extremely convenient thing… it can shut itself inside its own world, creating everything it has ever wanted to have once again.

Yes, I think I want to stay like this a bit longer… in this dream world of mine, where –

FUCK!

I jump back violently and fall down hard to the solid floor. This sensation – I'm drenched in cold water! Ice-cold water, at that! Who the hell did –

"Shu!"

…

"Inori…"

"It actually worked."

"And Gai too… no, Triton!"

"Triton?"

"It's a long story, Inori… Shu will explain it to you someday."

Inori looks perplexed, tilting her head at me in question while holding an empty bucket which I assume was filled with water until a moment ago. By her side is Gai - or rather, Triton - also looking at me with friendly eyes.

He walks towards me and lowers himself bending his knees. We're face to face now.

"You were out cold for a few hours. Inori suggested using water, so we did. Are you alright, mate?"

I lie down on the wet floor, still feeling my mind a little hazy. We stay in silence for a while as I catch my breath again – it seems I was very agitated by the cold water surprise they scored on me.

"You almost killed me back there, man. Back in the city, I mean…"

At last I make some words out of my mouth, having finally accepted and digested the idea of Gai being Triton. His eyes are the same as they were before – and his hair color is identical as well – there is no way he is not the Triton I had met ten years ago.

Triton laughs at my reply, making me reminisce about the old days.

"I'm sure I gave you a good scare. Sorry about that."

Inori seems confused as she stares at us, making it clear that she does not understand the unusual situation she's seeing before her. She must be wondering how it is that we behave as if we had known each other since long ago. I'm led to believe that Gai did not tell her anything about our past, and has still kept her in the dark even now.

"You sick bastard… I was out for two months after that day, you know? Don't play with my mind; it is easier to break than it seems."

I raise my torso and sit, supporting my weight with my arms against the floor.

Triton lands his hand on my head and messes my hair up, shaking it roughly in a friendly manner. Yes, he's definitely the old friend I lost back then. However, he seems to be far more social and energic… he was the timid type when I met him, much like Inori here.

"My bad, I'll be careful next time."

He apologizes and stands up, offering a hand to me. I take it and he pulls me back to my feet, very much like he did back in the battlefield after he punched my mind out.

"Why the water, though?"

I ask out of curiosity.

"You told me to."

Inori replies, and I remember about it… I indeed told her to use cold water the next time I didn't wake up. I didn't think she'd take it to heart, though; she's quite attentive. However, she still looks at the two of us as if asking us to explain the situation.

"I knew Gai very long ago, before the Lost Christmas incident. We got separated during the chaos of the virus' outbreak, though… and I hadn't known anything about him ever since. I had been wondering about his fate for years - it was pretty heavy meeting again."

Inori smiles weakly, apparently happy about our reunion. Despite seeming to be somewhat unemotional, the few occasions when she lets her feelings get the best of her are usually very expressive. From the short time we've spent together, I can say she's not very good at letting others look inside of her, but is honest about herself whenever they sneak past her surface.

"Don't be so reserved, Shu – we were best friends back then, practically brothers."

Gai brags about our close bonds slapping the back of my shoulder with his hand, but reminds me about Mana along the way with those two last words.

"Yes… like true siblings."

My voice sounds gloom as I end the sentence, betraying the emotions somberly stirring inside of me as I recall her face. Nostalgia, regret and guilt mix within my heart, bringing back the memories I hold of my dead sister, together with those of her last moments.

"Ah… sorry."

Triton falls silent as he realizes his mistake. Both of us remain like that awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. I lower my eyes, gazing into nothingness, only feeling Triton's hand still holding my shoulder.

Before I realize, I feel someone else holding me. It is Inori, who is softly wrapping her arms around both of us. I am surprised upon seeing her, but it is Gai who seems to be shocked the most as I feel him tense up beside me.

"Inori?"

Even his voice sounds bewildered, which makes me even more confused than I already was. His reaction seems as if Inori did something entirely unexpected of her… but that in itself is strange, given that she spoke very positively about Gai – wouldn't it be normal for him to see her showing some affection?

She softly buries her head between our shoulders and stays there for a moment, as both Gai and I have no idea of how to react. The normal thing to do would be hugging her back… but with the embrace coming from Inori, who at most cracks only a faint smile when she is glad about something, we are taken completely aback.

Without saying anything, she slowly steps back while letting go of us and turns around, silently making way for the door. She opens it and exits, uttering no word until the very end. Triton and I are left alone in the stone room.

"Shu… what did you do to her?"

Triton breaks the silence despite still being in shock, urging me for an explanation.

"Why, what do you mean?"

I honestly ask him, not entirely understanding his point.

"First she gave you the Genome, and now this?"

It seems like having her showing affection is something entirely out of her character, or so does Triton lead me to believe by how surprised he seems to be about her behavior. But more importantly… she gave me the Genome? What Genome? The only thing that pops to my mind is the… damn it.

"Hold on, hold on… the Genome? First things first, man… Triton, tell me what happened back there… What was that sword? How could I draw it?"

Triton sighs, as he walks over to the wall and picks a foldable chair resting against it. He opens it up and places it in front of me, pointing to where the chair I was sitting on myself lies prone on the floor.

Disregarding my near endless questions about Inori, I walk over to take it and put it back on its legs, conscious that a long and serious talk awaits us. There's many things we need to talk about, both about ourselves and about Inori and Mana… but making me know about our current situation is the most urgent matter for now.

Both Triton and I sit down, facing each other. He places his elbows above his knees, both of his hands closed and kept together, pushing against his forehead as he looks down, thinking hard about how to explain things to me.

After a brief moment, he raises his head and fixes his eyes on me.

"I'll explain everything to you, but in its due time and after careful deliberation… Everything has been insane these past ten years; I'll be revealing the truth to you gradually so you can come to accept it. Is that alright?"

I lay back on the chair, looking into the roof. I smile in self-derision, as my mind threatens to crumble once more… I am treading in the rope that separates sanity from insanity, and I laugh slightly as I think of how messed up things are.

"So you are telling me there are things that'll hit me harder than knowing you are still alive, Triton? Even harder than learning that you, of all people, lead the Funeral Parlor?"

Triton nods his head resolutely (not cute at all, unlike Inori) as he utters a single word:

"Aye."

He sounds serious. So, he's saying ignorance is bliss… I trust this guy, so I will pay heed to his warning and will refrain from making too many questions; I don't want to end up in a hospital bed due to a mental breakdown ever again.

"I'll keep an eye on my questions, then… that'll mean you should decide about what we'll be talking about. Do you need some time to think it out?"

"No; I need to tell you a few things right now, like what it was that Inori injected on you."

"Yes, that has been killing me for a while… what was that Genome thing?"

"Did she show a cylinder to you?"

"The one she stole? Yes, she did."

"That was it. We originally intended to use it on me, you see… but knowing that it was you to whom she bestowed that power, I don't quite feel like complaining about her decision. You're a strong man… and so I know you'll wield it the same way I would. "

"Heh… it is no wonder you entrusted me with Inori's protection outside the tunnel; you already knew it was me. I was really surprised when you told her I'd keep her safe. So you still believe in me, even after what happened at the church?"

Triton falls silent. This is the first time we have spoken about this… he must have feelings inside of him as well – he lost a friend too that day. Mana, Triton and I had become inseparable during that summer before Lost Christmas. I am sure talking about this must be painful to him the same way it is to me.

"Shu… you saved my life back then."

He moves closer to me, and grabs my shoulder with his hands, looking into my eyes.

"I have wanted to apologize for years, Shu… but I couldn't bring myself to seek you out, much less after I joined the Parlor. I knew you were in the city, but I - "

"Stop, Triton… what happened there was my fault, and no one else's."

"Shu, it was because of me that you –"

"I pushed her. You were there, you saw it too - I pushed her down the stairs and the fall killed her. She was killing you, and I killed her instead… therefore, the blame goes down to me alone."

Triton gets up his chair and punches the concrete column beside him with the base of his hand. He looks in every way as miserable as I do… the burden of what happened with Mana must weigh heavily on him as well.

"No… It was my weakness that killed her, Shu… I forced you to do it. I failed to protect her… I failed to protect all of us, and in the end I – "

"Triton!"

I get up and slam him hard against the wall, looking directly into his eyes. He's in the verge of tears, as am I. However… this room does not seem to be concealed. He is the Funeral Parlor's acting leader, according to what Inori told me… I cannot let his subordinates seeing nor hearing him the way he is right now; a leader should be strong and dauntless, the way he was while in the field of battle.

Silence falls upon us again, as we stay motionless inside the room. In the end, I let go of him and go back to my chair.

"I'm sorry…"

I apologize to him for having brought the subject up. As he said, I agree that it'd be better for both of us if we talked about things in their due time… we must find not only the right moment, but also the right place. This is neither of them.

"I'm a smaller man than I let them all believe, Shu… you've always been stronger than me. You were so back then, and you are so even now. Forgive me…"

"Don't say that - you know we are brothers. We'll fight alongside each other from now on; I won't let the past ruin the brotherhood what we once had. Both of us have our share of guilt… so we have to carry the burden in unison. We have a lot to talk about, but we'll figure it out. Back to the Genome… was that thing?"

"You always looked after me back then, and you continue to do so even now. You never change, Shu. I'm glad Inori gave the power to you in the end… it is how you dare to shoulder everyone's problems that gives you the right to be their King."

"King?"

"That's the Genome's power – the Power of the King. What Inori entrusted you with is the ability to grasp the people's hearts and draw them out in a physical form. In other words, you can manifest a person's true self and put it into use to the utmost of their abilities. You can now trespass in the realm of the gods, Shu – you can touch human souls and wield them as your weapons and tools."

Their very souls… I had a feeling about it when I pulled out Inori's sword – I was well aware I was wielding her spirit… but being directly told like this is overwhelming.

"This is possible because of the Apocalypse Virus, Shu. Sephirah Genomics has been researching for a way to use the virus to their own benefit. Maybe you have heard about the disease's late symptoms… besides the body's crystallization, the patients suffer from hallucinations and delusions where they claim to see objects instead of people, and have difficulty in separating their imagination from reality."

"So what they are seeing in reality is the souls of those around them?"

"Precisely right. The researchers call them Voids, and the Void Genome that Inori stole from them is a modified form of the virus. Sephirah engineered it with the purpose of giving its human host the ability to draw Voids at will.

We encountered very heavy resistance during the whole operation, and Inori was separated from the rest of the group after taking the sample. The rest of us stayed at the facility, destroying all the research data we could lay our hands upon."

"So you peed on everything and left before burning it all, Triton?"

"Shut up, Shu, this is serious."

"Sorry."

Part of me wanted to be skeptical, but after taking Inori's sword I can't really argue against anything Triton is saying, no matter how unbelievable it may seem.

"We had Tsugumi hack into their system while we forced our way in, so she destroyed all the backup data they had regarding the Void Genome Project. Since we also destroyed the laboratory, they cannot make another sample, Shu… the only one in the world who'll ever be able to bear its power is you."

"So this makes me the only of my kind?"

"In a way, yes. Sephirah intended to create a King to lead humanity through a path of evolution – their objective even now is to create a superior race destined to change history, and to take the entire world into a level of existence never seen before.

Not everyone is compatible with the virus, however, so the risk exists of the Lost Christmas incident happening again… this time on a global scale. That would be the end of the world as we know it."

"And so you resolved to use the Void Genome yourself in order to stop their plan."

"More than that; I intend to kill the entire Apocalypse Virus for good."

"The whole virus? Is that even possible, Triton?"

"Yes. You may not know this, but the virus is not something from this world."

"No surprise there… its abilities are nothing short of otherworldly."

"Exactly – they are."

"And so, where did the virus come from?"

I expected a reply, but Triton hesitates.

"That… I will tell you later on. Please believe in me."

So I'm stepping into dangerous ground, huh?

"I won't pry, then."

"Thanks for understanding… I promise I'll tell you when the time is right."

"Whatever the reason may be, I'll tell you this – you can count me in, Triton."

Not only did I meet Inori, who I find to be worth fighting for, but today I also met my long lost friend. There is no way in hell I will abandon either of them. I'm sticking to the Funeral Parlor, for better or for worse – it is perfectly clear to me this is where I belong.

Triton seems to be glad about my reply. Getting up his chair to end our delicate conversation, he motions with his hand for us to go for the door.

"Do you want to meet the rest of us? They're eager to know you as well."

I like the idea, but I feel I am not yet ready.

"Not yet… I'd like to have a little while to think things over. It's still night, right? I think I'll go see them in the morning, to have breakfast and all."

Triton laughs heartily at my reply.

"If that is what you wish. I'll go get dry clothes for you and then I'll show you to your room. Are you okay with that?"

"Sure. But before you go, Triton, I want to ask…"

He stops in his tracks. He must know what I am about to say.

"What was it that you wanted to tell me about Mana that day? I've been dying to know."

He stays silent, awkwardly looking away. After a long pause, he speaks resolutely.

"I'm keeping that for another day as well, my friend. Believe me… you would be catatonic for another few months if I told you right now."

I smile as I cross my arms, again lying back against the chair, looking into the ceiling like I did before to then draw a deep breath and sigh heavily.

"I thought so."

Triton turns his back towards me as he makes for the door upon hearing my words. Before he leaves, I speak to him one more time.

"Triton!"

He stops, looking back to me across his shoulder.

"I'm glad you're alright."

He smiles as he leaves the room, closing the door behind him.


	7. Interlude  6,5

Interlude (6.5)

Reminiscence

I lay on the bed of an unfamiliar room, after having Triton giving me a Funeral Parlor uniform, a pair of pants and a long-sleeve white shirt. I put on the later set of clothes to sleep, but I've been lying on bed being once again unable to find rest.

It is no wonder, though. I would be abnormal if I were able to snooze off casually after going through everything I've experienced today. Yesterday night I was calmly drifting inside my mind, thinking about my past, wondering if I'd even be able to find a song fitting for Souta's video.

Hours later, I found myself suddenly protecting a girl I had never seen before, and I even went as far as putting my own life at risk for her sake. Things got out of hand afterwards – I gave Hare the scare of her life, probably staining our friendship forever. And then I killed again… though it was collateral damage done by the GQH attempting to catch me, the truth is I was the reason why perhaps even hundreds of people died today.

For sure, I'll be in the news tomorrow all over Japan. Hare will know I have become an outlaw, and word will reach Haruka as well in no time. No – I am certain Haruka already knows about all of this… they must've called her after I was gone, telling her that her son had involved himself with a terrorist organization.

She must be worried sick about me, and extremely disappointed as well. She had always taught me to follow the rules and behave properly, especially since she is with Sephirah Genomics within the GHQ. How did she react when she knew her only son was seen with a group opposing her work? How does she feel right now? Is she as sleepless as I am, crawling in bed as she's deep in thought? Have I made her cry?

I don't know how I'll dare to show my face to her again. The same stands for everyone else I know… this will be a hell of a scandal. Ouma Shu, the quiet guy at school, suddenly seen with the group that blew up the entrances to the underground streets of Tokyo. The GHQ will never admit having done so themselves – they covered up the gunfight by their headquarters, so they'll most definitely blame the whole fight on us after such a large-scale incident happening throughout the city.

It would be accurate to say Ouma Shu died today, and was reborn as Shu of the Funeral Parlor. In in the same way that Triton died ten years ago and was reborn as Tsutsugami Gai… today I have stepped into the path of no return of an entirely new life.

My feelings are in a troubled state. On one hand, I have Triton and Inori, whom I have found today in what will likely grow to be my new family. On the other hand, however, I have Haruka and Hare plus the quasi-friends I left behind, Souta and Yahiro. I do not care very much about the latter two, but for the former… it pains me greatly to leave either of them behind. If I could be greedy, I'd like to keep them even after joining the Parlor.

But that would be asking for too much, wouldn't it? I don't even know how they feel about me now that this has happened. My desire to see them again may be one-sided, especially with Hare, who witnessed the ugly business I got involved in with her own eyes. I still have her uniform, too. She'll know I stepped over her trust, and went as far as rummaging through her things to aid someone I randomly met that very day.

Is there any way I'd be forgiven? I don't know… I am uncertain if I even want to be forgiven. Among the many sinners in the world, I am one of the worst. I have been fucked up ever since I killed Mana inside the church... perhaps this unshakeable sense of guilt is God's punishment to me for having sinned the way I did.

But what else could I have done? I only wanted to get her away from him; I never meant to go as far as killing her…

I feel as if there were a knot tied inside my throat. My feelings are flaying me, delivering to me the torment I deserve for trampling upon everyone. Why is it that whenever I try to save someone, I cause someone else's death? It was like that with Triton, and it was the same with Inori today. I don't understand; why can't I protect them without causing pain to anyone else? Why can't I be the one to die instead of the innocent?

Thinking about this has led me to consider suicide before… but that'd only be running away from the responsibility of my actions. I cannot allow myself to be a coward, or else I'd be unable to face Mana in the afterlife. What would you do in my place, sister? If you were still here, would you be proud of me? Would you forgive me for all I've done?

Perhaps I should've let you kill Triton that day, Mana. His life was yours to begin with… it was you who saved him from death when we found him drifting ashore in the beach. It was you who drew the water out of his lungs, and gave him a second chance to live. It was also you who gave him his name - Triton, as the messenger of the big sea.

What I have always been wondering is, why were you trying to end a life you had kept from being extinguished before? Did you want to keep your secret that badly? Or were you jealous of him because he and I got along so well?

I remember how the three of us played together every day after meeting him. Even Father and Haruka wanted to adopt him into our family – when they told us that, we started to see him as our real brother as well… or at least that's how I felt.

I think things got strange after that conversation we had, you and I… where you asked me if I'd be lonely if you got married. I was confused at first, as of why you brought that up. You told me Triton had seen you with adult eyes… leering eyes, and you found that gross. I didn't know what to say. However, your words finished me off.

'But _you_ can see me with adult eyes, Shu.'

Just what did you mean with that? You kissed me afterwards… saying you loved me… asking me to be your future husband. What the hell, Mana? You were my sister… there's no way I would've seen you like that.

Though I turned you down… you said I'd be yours either way. Was that why you attacked him, Mana? Was the secret Triton learned about you related to this? I still don't know why things went so wrong. He asked me to meet him at the church, so I went… but I didn't expect to find you there as well… much less on top of him, choking his neck against the floor.

I screamed to you, asking you to stop. You replied it'd be over soon, that no one would be in our way anymore. Before I knew it, I pushed you away as strongly as I could, using all my weight on you as I ran. I had no idea there were stairs heading down right behind you. The fall killed you, Mana. I made you die – the hands that threw you off were none other than my own. As I rushed to you afterwards, praying you were alright, I nearly fell down as well – not because I lost my balance, but because of what I saw.

Your body was shattered. You… turned to dust. Haruka told me time and again that the shock of seeing you fall had made me imagine many things… but I am certain Triton knows what really happened to you back then. The fact he refuses to tell me is enough to convince me I am right… what he wanted to tell me had to do with your cause of death.

My eyes are burning. I'm crying now… it is always painful when I remember about all of this. But I will not back down, Mana, I will shoulder the weight of having ended your life and, someday, I will know what truly happened that day. I will uncover the truth, Mana… mark my words. Together with Triton, I'll protect everyone I hold dear – I'll remake my life, forever bearing the shackles of guilt that bind me to you.

If I do this… will you be proud of me, sister? Will you forgive me?


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The Funeral Parlor

"Shu."

I wake up immediately upon hearing Inori's voice, afraid of what she'd do if I refused to heed her call. Upon sitting up, I drowsily scratch my head as I yawn, lazily greeting a new day. It took me several hours to fall asleep last night, so I'm still a bit fatigued from the streak of crazy days I've been going through recently.

"Morning, Inori."

Being greeted by Inori first thing in the morning makes for a good start, however, so I don't mind at all having been woken before I rose by myself. In fact, I think it'd be fantastic for my mental health to have her wake me up more often…

"Are you thirsty?"

She leans towards me and offers a glass of iced water. See? I knew she'd come prepared in case I attempted to indulge myself in sweet sleep. Now that she no longer needs to splash the water on my face, she's getting rid of it by making me drink it. How convenient for her… I feel as if I were a dog being fed its master's leftovers.

"I'm starving, actually… but I'll take the glass. Thank you, Inori."

She hands it to me quietly and keeps her eyes fixed on me as I gulp it down. Now that I realize… I was indeed thirsty. It's hardly surprising, though, seeing how I barely had any food at all yesterday. I told Gai I'd meet everyone today at breakfast… but I wonder if everyone eats together or not – I still don't know any of the installations other than my room and the other one where I had the talk with Triton last night.

"Gai said breakfast will be ready soon. We should get going."

This girl has a talent for answering my questions before I even ask them. She did so a couple of times yesterday and once again today… I'm guessing her mindset and mine are fairly compatible. Perhaps it is because we're both socially awkward. I don't know much about her yet, but I get the feeling that she's not very talkative. Maybe she's developed some form of perceptiveness that allows her to read into other people based on their facial expression or body language.

"Yes, let us –"

Oh crap.

"Uh… Inori, would you mind heading out first? I'd like to get changed before going."

I hastily make an excuse, pointing at my casual and wrinkled shirt. She looks at me in question, wondering what my sudden refusal to go with her is about. You see, Inori, I have a very solid reason why I cannot leave the bed just yet. It happens sometimes during the mornings, so please bear with it and leave quietly… I'll catch up soon.

"After all that happened yesterday, I think it is a given I'll be joining the Funeral Parlor. Gai even gave me an uniform, so it would be best if I wore it while introducing myself to everyone… it'd be bad to give off an impression saying I'm a slacker, or worse."

"Do as you wish."

Inori takes the empty glass in my hand and leaves the room, saying nothing else. She seems to be sulky… I guess she wanted me to go with her. But I really couldn't go with her just yet – I have to wait until some stiff business calms down before I follow her.

Still from my bed, I ensure Inori closed the door before I get up and walk over to the desk for my uniform. It is mostly black, but has a few details in red and a couple of metal badges here and there, presumably the Funeral Parlor's signature logo or something of the sort. These look pretty cool, actually…

I strip off all of my clothing. Gai was too considerate – he even included a new pair of socks and underwear. I haven't showered for over a day, but at least I was drenched quite thoroughly by Inori with the cold bucket last night… it should count as something.

As I think of this, the door is slammed open.

"You rookie, how could you make Inori go back alo-"

A girl in a wheelchair enters the room without even knocking.

I'm still fully naked, and the reason I made Inori leave is openly erected in the air.

"GROSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSS!"

The girl screams and throws an empty glass at me with all her might.

I was too stunned to react. The crystal noisily breaks upon impact against my head.

The world around me suddenly goes dark.

**DEAD END**


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The Funeral Parlor, Pt. II

I wake up with my vision rather blurry. My head feels like it's about to explode, and I feel something wrapped tightly around it. I touch my forehead with my fingers, and feel there is a bandage covering it. I can barely remember anything… I recall having being woken up by Inori, and I feel like something bad happened afterwards – like a terrible accident.

"You okay, Shu?"

Triton greets me, sitting on a chair by the side of my bed.

I weakly look down to see my body and notice I'm clothed again, with the pants and white shirt I wore to sleep. This is strange… I vaguely recall having changed into the Funeral Parlor uniform… or at least having intended to.

"You were very lively this morning, giving Ayase a surprise so early in the day."

Now I remember.

"Shut up, Triton."

"He's Gai! Tsutsugami Gai – so treat him with respect, rookie."

A voice I'd heard before a couple of times breaks into our conversation. I turn my head to the side and see her – the girl in the wheel chair, who threw at my head the glass Inori had taken with her before leaving the room.

"Ayase, calm down… no matter how I look at this, you were the one at fault."

Triton takes my side in the argument. Show her, brother!

"Say what you want, I'm not apologizing to a pervert!"

Ayase seems indignant about admitting her wrongdoing.

"Hey, hey, hey! _You_ walked into the room while _I_ was changing!"

And while I was dealing with morning business, but that's not my fault either – it can't be avoided, no matter how much I try! I'm a healthy young male, after all.

"Oh, really? And what have you got to say about what you did to Inori?"

She snaps back at me in an instant. But why did she mention Inori?

"Uh… what are you talking about?"

I ask, honestly not knowing what I did.

"And now you don't remember! Gai, would you tell him?"

Ayase seems furious at me… I don't understand what's going on. Gai scratches his head while looking down awkwardly. He seems reluctant to speak about it. He gathers some courage, making faces of displeasure towards the idea of saying it out loud, but still proceeds to explain the events that happened while I was out.

"Inori rushed into the room after the glass shattered… She picked you up and laid you on the bed, though Ayase was strongly objecting to her actions. You were fully naked, you see. And then Inori said…"

Gai dares not continue. He stays there in silence, looking at the floor, apparently in horror upon remembering the words she uttered. Ayase breaks the ice.

"She said you'd already stripped her naked, so she didn't mind putting your clothes on."

…

…

…

I cannot possibly emphasize how much I earnestly wish from the most profoundly abysmal depths of my heart that I, Ouma Shu, were swallowed by the earth right now.

There are no more words.

No gestures.

Nothing.

Triton and I are dead silent, utterly still in the ice-cold atmosphere permeating the room. Only the sound of Ayase's wheelchair moving away can be heard as she makes for the door, followed by the noise of it being opened and then slammed shut.

"Man… I… Uh… That is not what it seems to be."

I speak the phrase that best friends always say when they are found dating the other's girl. Despite how the stripping her naked scenario was entirely_ not_ the way Inori made them believe it was, it still seems like the lamest of all excuses when I say it. Ayase… you should've at least had the decency of killing me with that glass.

"Now I understand the hug back then…"

He's talking about last night, when she hugged us both. Triton seems extremely shocked, bordering the edges of depression. God damn it, Inori… why did you say it like that?! Don't you know there are codes of behavior we're supposed to follow? Keeping your friends from having such serious misunderstandings is one of them! Nodding won't spare you from my wrath, young one…

Shit… what can I say to Triton? I must've torn his heart into thousands of little pieces.

"Really, brother… I… we were desperate, you see…"

Triton covers his face with his hand, showing extra effort in blocking his eyes.

"Spare the details, Shu. Just knowing the deed is more than enough."

"Wait, no! I didn't strip her naked! Well… I did, but –"

Triton stands up and makes for the door as well. I rush behind to stop him.

"Triton, wait! Let me – "

"I need some time to think, Shu… that's all."

He leaves the room.

Shit, dude. Running behind him in the corridor isn't exactly the best thing I can do…

"You made things worse, rookie."

A young girl's voice speaks to me. I turn to my side and see her – short stature, bluish-grey eyes, black hair and an electronic headband that resembles cat ears. She stands there, happily fashioning a cheeky smile. This girl wants a fight… but I am in no mood for it.

"I can see that… damn it."

I punch the door angrily.

"Hey, hey! Don't make me tend for your hand! I've done enough with your head already."

Hoh… so she wrapped the bandage?

"You did this?"

I ask her to confirm, slightly poking the covered wound. It still hurts. And speaking about pain, I am still very hungry… things keep impeding me from eating one after another.

"Yeah, after Inori clothed you. I had to stop Aya from slapping the living daylight out of your face. You should've seen Gai's expression when Inori said that… revelation. The girl is as oblivious as ever; she has never understood people's feelings... not even her own."

I slap my face square with my palm. If I had an iron prosthesis instead of my right arm, the amount of pain inflicted would've been just fine. That'd probably blind me, though… if I were to arbitrarily add Inori's death to that, my life would plain suck. It's good that isn't happening – I'll protect her at all costs… if I ever dare to face her again.

"Indeed… saying that in front of everyone."

I complain, agreeing that Inori is bad at dealing with emotions.

"I don't understand how you managed to seduce her, though… you don't look like a ladies' man at all. Gai must be broken right now, seeing how his precious Inori did a pity sleep with a random guy."

My blood is starting to boil, despite how the girl looks to be only 14.

And she keeps adding fuel to the fire.

"But you should be more considerate around here… I don't know what you were planning to do with Inori a while ago, but involving Aya was too much. Please keep your perverseness to yourself, rookie."

I will hit a child.

"Here, have some food."

That's a low blow. She was dragging a service cart with her, with a fray full of food atop.

"I doubt Gai will be able to introduce you anytime soon, so make do with this and wait until the evening. He'll probably get himself together by then, so feel free to fool around. Just stay away from Inori."

I accept the food, calming down. Lucky midget… if I were not so hungry, I'd be making you wear a bandage like mine right now.

"You're getting it all wrong… I only changed her clothes because she needed a disguise but she couldn't move well… there was nothing aside from that."

For the sake of my reputation, I try to clear my name.

"Changed whom?"

There goes another one. A gloomy-looking guy with grey eyes and brown hair dyed blonde right through the middle, wearing the Funeral Parlor suit.

"Ah, Argo! Nothing, he's just fooling around."

Well… the girl covered for me. That's something I'll remember, at least.

"Really? I saw Ayase a moment ago; she was cursing a so-called rookie. Is this him?"

Argo looks at me curiously.

"Yeah, Gai will introduce him to the rest in a while. His name is… Shu, I believe?"

"Ouma Shu… pleased to meet you."

I half-heartedly introduce myself. I'm not really a mood for talking, much less when there are people prone to asking me about what happened to my head.

"Tsukishima Argo. What happened to your head?"

See my point?

"Let's say he surprised Aya and leave it at that."

Hey, I'm starting to like this girl. She looks quite cheerful, despite the misunderstanding with Inori and the incident with Ayase. The headband looks cute on her too… but Inori's nodding is second to none, so this girl's looks do not really matter. She's helping me out, though, so I'll definitely repay the favor someday.

"Yeah, please… by the way, you are…"

I ask for her name.

"Tsugumi! I'm Sendo Tsugumi, Ouma Shu."

She remembers my name, alright.

"Pleased to meet you, Sendo-san."

"Sendo? Tsugumi is fine, silly. I'll call you Shu and that's that."

"Same for me, just call me Argo."

Does everyone here in the Pasta Parlor skip straight down to the name? No honorifics, nothing? They must be like a really close family… they're very casual with one another.

"Tsugumi and Argo, then. Tsugumi… Weren't you the one checking the area around the tunnel? I think Gai mentioned your name. You said your radar was broken, I think."

Yes, I remember… she said something about Ayase losing her craft too.

"Ah, that was me. Argo was there fighting too, actually… did you see him?"

"I think I didn't. There was hardly any time before the Endlaves got to us, so I had to rush off for dear life before even meeting with Gai."

"So you have an eye out only for the girls… Aya was right after all."

"Huh? Is the rookie here trying to hook up?"

"Damn you, Tsugumi."

"I'm joking, I'm joking! Don't get the wrong idea, Argo… Shu here is a good man. He saved Inori, after all… and the girl even gave the Genome to him."

"The Genome? You're joking, right?"

"No, I'm serious. Gai hasn't told the details to everyone yet, but his communicator was linked to mine when he uttered something along those lines. That makes Shu our trump card, Argo, so Gai will protect him at all costs. You should get along with him… you'll be risking your life for his in the field from now on."

Tsugumi rests her weight against the wall as she explains the situation. Argo looks displeased upon knowing the news, and faces me directly.

"What did you do to her, rookie? Inori had clear orders to deliver the Genome to Gai. She's perhaps the most loyal to him in the entire Parlor… I can't see how she'd openly abandon her mission just to save you."

Everyone is saying the same thing, even Triton himself. Were Inori's actions really so unusual? They all think she did it solely for me, but given the situation we were in…

"No, she didn't do it just to save me. Both of us were about to be killed, so she had no option but to inject it to me; if she hadn't done it, the Genome would've been recovered by the Anti-Bodies."

I point out how they might be wrong in believing she did it merely for me. Tsugumi objects, however.

"She could've destroyed it before dying. Gai had already instructed her to do so if she were to be captured, saying it'd be better for it to be lost rather than falling into the wrong hands. Inori knew this, yet she entrusted you to wield the weapon we spent so much time, resources and lives to steal away from Sephirah.

That is no walk in the park, Shu. How you made her, the most unemotional and unapproachable member in our group, to trust you to that degree is a mystery to all of us."

Tsugumi's words hit me hard.

"You'd better carry the weight of your actions, rookie. Inori put her faith in you, and Gai seems to believe in you as well… you'd better not have the nerve to let us down."

Argo understands the situation as well, and presses me to clad my balls in steel. Fortune is in the Parlor's favor, then – I'm boarding their boat… as soon as Gai regains his composure and introduces me to the rest. Damn it.

As I think of this, I notice Inori walking towards us… speak of the devil.

"Shu, are you better now?"

"Ah… um… yes, I… feel better."

This is awkward. Tsugumi has been so kind as to keep Argo from knowing about the incident with Aya, but Inori is denser than I am and thus may spill everything out. I don't know what Argo thinks about her… but it'd be better for all of us if the rumors about me having slept with Inori were not spread any further.

Argo easily notices the strange atmosphere and seems confused.

"Did I put on correctly your clo- "

"Ah, Inori! Gai was looking for you, please come with me!"

Tsugumi saves the day, breaking into Inori's sentence and dragging her away with utmost haste. I owe her, big time. I won't forget this, little one… I'll repay the favor someday.

Argo is speechless. He knows there's something fishy about the situation.

"Don't ask."

I warn him.

"Won't do."

Gloomy as he may seem, he's easier to deal with than Inori, for which I'm thankful.

Our conversation dies, having Tsugumi gone away with Inori… off to Triton's direction. Even as emotionally senseless as she may be, I hope Inori sets things straight and explains the situation properly… I don't want to be the one telling him exactly how things happened – it is way more believable if the girl in question tells the story to him herself. Inori doesn't seem like she'd lie to him, after all… he'll surely believe anything she says.

Argo goes back to where he came from, probably a dark corner somewhere in the facility, and I enter my room, pulling the service tray with me. At long last – so damn long last, I get to eat something. It's a plain sandwich and some fries, completely unlike the Japanese food I'm used to having for breakfast, but I do not care: at this point in time, anything edible set before me looks like a worthy banquet sent by the havens themselves.

After thoroughly enjoying my first meal in over a day, I lock the door as damned locked as it can be and, careful of not having anyone enter the room again, I change my clothes. The Funeral Parlor's uniform is quite comfortable, now that I get to wear it. No, that's an understatement… it is very comfortable. Ahhh, I'm starting to get relaxed… seeing how there's not much to do, I think I'll get a snooze.

And snooze I do.

"Shu."

Voice recognition activated – speaker identified as Yuzuriha Inori.

Permission for implementing the instant awakening system: granted.

Visual devices, aka eyes: alert and reading the surroundings.

Threat level assessment: danger inexistent, Inori is outside the room. I left the door locked.

I rise from bed and go to greet her, still shy about what happened this morning but already calm enough to think straight… I hope. I open the door and find Triton along with her, looking more composed.

"Hey… uh…"

"Inori has told me the details, I understand. Let's go, Shu – everyone is waiting."

Whoa. His voice now is bold and unshakeable, as that of a worthy leader – not even a trace of his awkward expression from before is left on his face, unlike Inori who looks like she is embarrassed. I nod, giving rise to a seriousness matching Triton's and follow behind him.

Tsugumi is right outside the room, smiling mischievously. Did she get to hear the story as well? The little brat looks like she's hiding something. She saved my ass with Argo a while ago, though… so I'll let her get me if she tries something funny, just this one time.

She stays silent, contrary to my expectations, and merely follows behind us. We go up and down through several stairs over the course of the grey hall. The walls have no paint on them – their concrete is bare, and numerous cables run along hanging from them. The place looks like an abandoned installation that was put back to use just recently, or is purposely left without renovation to make it look forsaken in the GHQ's eyes.

Triton speaks to me only once on our way to our destination.

"I can assume you will join us, right?"

"Damn right, Gai. I'll fight by your side through the very gates of hell itself if I must."

Triton smiles confidently at my reply. I still don't know what happened to him during the time he was gone, nor why he even left in the first place – I didn't' bother asking at all, suspecting he'd tell me I am not yet ready to know the truth. I can clearly see, though, that he has changed very drastically; he was weak and timid back in the old days.

His presence now is that of an entirely different person – the man before me in this moment is Tsutsugami Gai, not the gentle and guilt-ridden Triton I spoke with last night. What I can feel from him now is an immutable force of will dedicated to a clear cause.

Yesterday I only got to see him very briefly during the midst of battle, but now that I walk by his side I can feel how much of a leader he is – if he were to utter an order to me, even if I were just a passerby on the street, I'd feel compelled to follow him.

That's the extent of his imposingness – Tsutsugami Gai is a natural born leader, meant to rally people to his cause and unify them under a single banner. Now it is no wonder for me how he managed to become the highest authority within the Parlor.

Following him, we eventually walk into a circular room with a large computer terminal in the middle. The space is large by itself, and on the wall opposite to the entrance is a stairway which goes up several floors full of bookshelves. This is a library, I see… a fitting place to hold a meeting, given how information is everywhere around us.

There's a few dozen people gathered in here, all of them wearing the Funeral Parlor attire. As we enter the room, every one of them ceases their conversation and activities, stand up and gather around us all over the many floors above. The time for my formal introduction to the Funeral Parlor has come. Go ahead, Triton… I'm ready.

"Brothers in arms! Today I introduce to you the man who will carry the weight of our mission and purpose. This is Ouma Shu, the one selected to wield the Power of Kings bestowed by the Void Genome. He risked his life to save one of ours and has proven his worth in open combat – he who was a stranger to all of us has chosen to join our cause, willing to embrace our motives and ideals.

He is a good man, worthy of being trusted by each and every one of us. I am confident he would stand and fight for any of you the same way he did for our comrade, Yuzuriha Inori, no matter how direly against us the odds may be.

Thus, let us welcome him as one of our own and place the fate of the Funeral Parlor upon the hands of the new King!"

Gai turns to look at me, earnestly showing in his eyes how deeply he trusts his old friend.

"You are our most powerful card, Shu. I ask of you before everyone here: Are you willing to bear the crown given to you to fight for a better world?"

The eyes of everyone are fixed upon me. Their very weight is nigh overbearing, but I am not in a position where I can chicken out. I have wielded Inori's soul with my own two hands – I have felt its power, and I have confirmed how decisively it tips the balance to the favor of whoever's side it is in.

I understand – for the Funeral Parlor to win the fight against Sephirah Genomics, who threatens to put an end to the world as we know it, I am indeed the mightiest of cards. Ouma Shu is the one factor that will determine whether Tsutsugami Gai and his followers will succeed in protecting all they hold dear.

It is not only Triton and Yuzuriha Inori who depend on me – Haruka and Hare, and everyone else I may ever come to love will be put at risk if I fail to comply with Gai's request – should the King refuse to fight, his nation shall fall.

I was a wimp until a couple of days ago. Has meeting Inori had such an impact on me? Had I been given the responsibility placed upon me today in some other point of my life, I'd have immediately ran away and searched for another one to replace me.

However, since the moment I saved her, I have been facing danger without hesitation. I do not yet understand the reason behind the sudden changes inside of me… but I will accept them as they are, making Ouma Shu die to be replaced by Shu of the Funeral Parlor.

My social awkwardness, my fear to getting to know others and making myself known… I abandon all of that as of now, and accept the power given to me by the girl I swore to protect. You ask me before all of your comrades if I am willing to fight by your side, Gai. To that, I have to say…

"Down to my last breath, my friend."


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Camaraderie, Pt. I

Things went better than expected. Given how a large part of the Funeral Parlor was mobilized throughout the city to assist Inori and me during our persecution yesterday, almost everyone already knew about me. Moreover, all those that were by the tunnel had actually seen me in battle wielding Inori's sword, and testified for my combat prowess.

They overestimate me… the only reason I was able to fight was the fact I had Inori by my side, allowing me to use her as a weapon. If she were away from me, I'd be powerless. Therefore, I need to undergo combat training. And that's why I'm here back in the library with Gai and Shibungi, the Parlor's second in command who welcomed me together with the rest after I was formally introduced.

A little away from us is a fourth person, reluctantly keeping us company from her wheelchair. Gai insisted to have her present, and thus Ayase joined us shortly after lunchtime. She is still hostile towards me, though I don't know if it is because of the misunderstanding with Inori or because of the incident this morning… or both.

"I'll be frank with you, Shu."

Gai interrupts my train of thought.

"Training you to fight on par with us will be impossible – most of our members have already undergone at least a year of rigorous drills and preparation. Time is pressing on us very hard at the moment, so we'll only be able to teach you the basics and punch into you a slightly better physical condition."

He explains the situation to me, to which I attentively listen. I myself know very well that my physical condition is poor and my combat abilities are mediocre at best. For some reason, today I've been feeling more lively than usual, but I shouldn't trust the unexpected surge of vitality will last forever.

Shibungi, who had been silent until now, proceeds with the explanations.

"Your greatest strength is Inori's Void, and therefore she will be with you at all times during deployments. However, Inori herself is your lethal weakness: if she dies, her void will be destroyed as well."

Gai continues elaborating in Shibungi's stead.

"This means you will have to defend not only yourself, but also her; you cannot afford putting yourself in extreme situations, nor can you recklessly charge against the enemy and leave her behind on her own."

No need to worry about that; the reason I got to join the Parlor in the first place is I decided I would protect her from any and all harm.

Gai takes word again.

"I'll try to be by your side myself whenever possible, but I will assign someone to be with you in addition to Inori if the situation requires me to be elsewhere. Therefore, your team will be a three-member cell most of the time."

So I'll have my own team, then… Things will be insane every time Gai joins us – we will make for an unstoppable power trio, and none will endure opposing us.

Shibungi adds a bit more.

"Also remember you are out trump card, so our tactics will be centered on you as our main unit in the whole field. As such, you'll have to keep your cool at all times and strictly obey Gai's orders – chaos will ensure if our plans fall into disarray."

That's a heavy role, but I expected he'd say something like that; I am a juggernaut if Inori is with me, so it is only natural it would be expected of me to do most of the fighting. Having someone able to shrug off bullets and slice Endlaves apart with a single blow surely counts as a decisive advantage in open combat.

The Parlor's second in command takes on from where he left off.

"The one problem is you are vulnerable if Inori's void is sheathed inside of her. That makes you very susceptible to sniper fire and explosives, which will be constantly aimed at you as soon as Sephirah finds you hold the Power of the King."

And that is terrible. Not the snipers nor the missiles, but the last part… Haruka will know. How will she react when she learns about it? How will I dare to ever face her again? I need to see her soon… I must have a very serious conversation with her, and persuade her to stop working for Sephirah Genomics at once.

Gai takes on the explanation, I think… I'm too distracted to know who's talking anymore.

"We'll take measures to protect you from enemy fire before you are deployed, but staying alive in the field is entirely up to you. Yet, the greatest threat to your life will be the assassination missions the Anti-Bodies will throw at you after knowing your identity."

How will I convince Haruka? And what will I do if I find she has known about Sephirah's objective all along? Or worse… what will I do if she is involved in the research surrounding the Void Genome?

"Tsugumi is currently contacting a mole we managed to infiltrate into the GHQ a few months ago. He has been leaking information to us, and so he'll be able to tell us if the enemy has already identified you as one of our members. "

I hope I haven't been branded as a terrorist yet… I know my life as a civilian has met its end, but I do not want to lose the last remaining family I used to have. A quarrel with Haruka is the last thing I need, but I do not see any way I can avoid it other than having the fortune of not being recognized by anyone in the GHQ during the persecution… which is a far too optimistic hope; there is no way I wasn't seen and recorded.

"There is a very small chance that your name is still relatively clean… we had Tsugumi hack into the surveillance cameras by the areas where you were present, you see. The problem is that even if there are no video records of you, we cannot do anything about the Anti-Bodies that saw you themselves… so we must wait for our mole to tell us exactly how much they know about you before we can determine any course of action."

Wait, Gai just said something important. Tsugumi is really, really saving my ass more than I deserve. I'm starting to feel very positively about her… she has already earned my appreciation, and so I think I'll be looking for a way to reward her for her help. It bugs me to be indebted to others… it is my obligation to answer in kind when someone assists me.

"And therefore, we will use this time to assess your capabilities so we can know where to start your training from."

I expected as much. Alright, I'm casting my thoughts aside for now… I have to listen to Gai and Shibungi with closer attention.

"Ayase, you'll be responsible for overseeing his development from now on."

"Eh?!"

I couldn't stop myself from expressing my surprise. Dirty bastard, I did not expect that one. Neither did Ayase, I'm guessing.

"Me, Sir?"

See? She didn't see it coming either.

"He'll be getting in your way as he is now. If you value your own life, you'll do it."

The look in Ayase's face is one of utter dismay. I'm not too happy about Gai's decision, either… My head is still in pain, and I am not the type that forgives and forgets easily. Just the way I intend to repay Tsugumi's kindness, I'll also return to you what you've given to me, Ayase… as soon as I dare to lay a hand on a girl in a wheelchair. That'll probably be never. Damn it.

But still, I need not lay a hand on her… I can find a way of getting back at her indirectly. I'll think of something… just you wait, my dear Ayase… my cunning knows no equal. Despite this, however, vengeance can wait. I must first clear a doubt that is bugging me.

"Gai, I'll ask merely out of curiosity… why her?"

She'll be training me? I don't mean to be rude, but being in charge of my physical education seems unfitting for a wheelchair-ridden girl. Unless Gai intends to… oh shit.

"Ayase will be your third team member whenever I'm not around."

"WHAT?!"

Both of us scream in unison. Even Ayase, who is way more respectful to Gai than anyone else I've met so far couldn't stop herself from showing how hard the shock hit her. To be fair with her, I must outline I am quite shaken too: why is Ayase, of all people, paired with me? And on top of that, in her Endlave! Gai, is this for real?

I hasten to see my soon-to-be sister in arms.

And her face… is… PRICELESS!

I'm still disgusted over Gai's decision, but seeing how she is looking at him in horror, mouth wide open, partially covering her distraught expression with her two hands – I am barely able to keep myself from laughing my ass off.

The best thing is, she is completely unwilling to question Gai but yet she finds his order to be utterly unacceptable – she is visibly fighting an all-out inner conflict that threatens to break her reserved attitude towards her leader.

"I am tasking you with preserving Shu's life, Ayase – protecting our greatest chance for victory against Sephirah is in your hands. I trust you will do as I expect you to."

My composure isn't as strong as it should be. Gai exits the room together with Shibungi after leaving those final words behind him, and as soon as the door closes, the memory of Ayase's expression breaks through my willpower in the form of laughter and tears.

The girl doesn't take it very kindly – she looks at me seriously as I support my weight against the column by my side, attempting to suppress that sound which shouldn't be bursting from my mouth.

"I'll defend you only because he confided in me to do so, pervert."

The air around her seems solemn, somehow. She managed to break off the shock very well. I believe Gai's words deeply touched her… and here I am in contrast, still chuckling like an idiot. But how can I help it? She still looks funny for some reason, despite the heaviness of her presence.

Ah, I see now… she's blushing. You can't hide your fluster from me, Ayase: you are very formal with Gai and evidently hold him in high regard. Judging from how you immediately changed after he said he was counting on you, I can accurately say:

"You like him, don't you?"

She gasps, pushing herself back against her wheelchair.

Hohoho… bullseye.

"You idiot! I respect him! _**Respect!**_ Know the difference!"

She barks her refusal at me, leaning towards me as she emphasizes the respect part.

"Sure, sure… that's how they call it nowadays."

I cast her words aside as the mere excuses they are – Shu of the Funeral Parlor will not be fooled by a mere girl. Much less when she - uh oh! What's this tension? I feel almost as if the air itself had grown cold. Ah, I see… this ominous feeling comes from that direction.

"Do you have a death wish, Ouma Shu?"

Parked in her wheelchair, Ayase is extremely close to emanating an aura of darkness from her. Hell, her Void would undoubtedly be something sinister like a scythe if I took it out this instant… I think I should stop teasing her for now.

"I'll pass this time, thank you."

I dare not tell her to calm down; saying that always has the contrary effect. Keep it cool, Shu… stay casual, and you may leave this room with your head still attached.

"Good."

Very good indeed – I didn't get hit by her again. Despite how I'm growing a taste for bugging her, I still haven't figured out a way to defend myself from her without feeling guilty about it… her walking disability keeps me from doing so.

"Let us go to Tsugumi, then. She should have already gotten information about you from the mole, so we can ask her about it before she performs a physical assessment on you."

Hm… that's curious.

"Does she know about medicine? She was the one who fixed my head after you did me the favor of extending my sleep."

I ask as I walk towards Ayase.

"Only a little, but it is enough to tell if you're worth anything for us or not."

Well, I'd be surprised if she were well versed in not only the computational field, but also on medicine. She looks very young, after all… I doubt she has had much time to study about the human body. In fact, it amazes me to know she's the Parlor's hacker – just who on Earth is she?

"Pervert… what are you doing?"

Me? Uh…

"Giving you a ride, I think."

I am behind her, grasping the push handles of her wheelchair. And I think I screwed up.

"Let go at once, if you are so kind."

Yep, I screwed up. She didn't attack me despite her threatening tone, though… I guess she has already hit me enough for a day after breaking a damned glass on my head.

"Right. Sorry."

I feel like a douche.

"This wheelchair is something that makes me who I am. I don't need your consideration, understand?"

I know, I know… you are a soldier, Ayase – the fact I casually offered to push the wheelchair for you made it seem as if I were looking down on your condition.

"I wasn't thinking, I'm sorry… I didn't even notice."

I speak truthfully – I truly did not realize what I was doing until she objected.

"Yes, well… it's good you get my point. Let's go."

She hesitated? Even if only for a moment, Ayase acted a little bit soft despite the apparent harshness her words. Something must've crossed her mind. I take she accepted my apology, then? I don't know anymore… I can't crack into this girl's head easily.

We move out of the library and head over to the computers room where Tsugumi is usually stationed, according to Ayase. Said and done, the young girl is there busily working on a large table full of electronic parts and tools, apparently repairing a small… oh God, please don't tell me –

"How is Funell doing?"

Damn it, Ayase, you confirmed it: Tsugumi is repairing the little bugger.

"Not very good, Aya… he took a couple of bullets and some water too, it is a miracle my dear baby did not pass away."

Those words were a hammer just now, crashing against my skull.

"Tsugumi… did you make him?"

I ask somberly, fearing for the worst.

"Yes, I'm his mama."

Part of me has died today.

"More importantly, Shu – you're clean! Kyle told me your identity still remains secret, the GHQ only wants to contact you for some minor interrogation related to Inori's shooting by your school, but that's all."

"Oh… that's great."

I reply disinterestedly at whatever it was that she said. Tsugumi made Funell.

"Hey, pervert… Shouldn't you be happy about it?"

Leave me alone, Ayase… Tsugumi made Funell.

"Shu? Are you alright?"

Of course I'm not, Tsugumi. You made Funell…

"Pervert?"

"Aya, call him by name."

"Sorry."

The one I swore to punch in the face is the same girl who I am indebted to.

"Shu, you look pale! Aya, what did you do to him?"

"Nothing, I swear!"

"The glass may have done brain damage after all… go get Gai, fast!"

"Y- Yes, immediately!"

Tsugumi made Funell. Tsugumi made Funell. Tsugumi made Funell. Tsugumi made –

"Shu, hang on! Here, lay on this desk over here… come, follow me."

I stop the girl who is trying to help me walk. I hold both of her shoulders with my trembling hands, not knowing what to do. Fixing my stare upon her eyes, I wonder of what my course of action is supposed to be. Should I strangle her? Should I cry? The heavens have cursed me with the worst of all punishments.

"You look terrible, boy… say something."

I let go of her and let my butt drop flat down on a chair. I bury my fingers through my hair as I look down, still processing the abominable piece of knowledge that entered my brain just a moment ago.

"I need a moment to think… that's all."

Tsugumi sits by my side in silence.

A couple of minutes pass, and Tsutsugami Gai enters the room accompanied by a shit-scared Ayase. I'm already feeling a little bit better, though only enough to feel some warmth from the terrified look portrayed in the wheelchair-ridden girl's face.

"Shu? Ayase told me you were feeling poorly."

"I just learned something I shouldn't have… you were right in saying ignorance is bliss."

Gai seems confused.

"What did you tell him?"

He asks the two girls seriously.

"Nothing! We just walked into Tsugumi fixing Funell, and she told him his name is clean! That was all!"

Gai seems indeed very, very confused.

"Please leave us… I need a word with him."

And there he goes, intending to fix my head.

"No, they're fine… it has nothing to do with my name being – wait, what?"

My name is clean? For real!?

"Yes, I contacted Kyle and he said he's free of any criminal charges."

Tsugumi confirms what I think I heard.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner!?"

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"

The two girls in the room scream at me in one voice – even Tsugumi lost her nerve.

"Shu… you really suffered brain damage… We're getting a medic at once!"

"Damn it, Gai! I'm fine!"

"No, you're not! We must take a look at your head; if we don't act soon you may -"

"I said I'm fine, Tsugumi! What blew my mind off was learning that you made that damned little bugger, that's all!"

And there's silence.

Fuck.

"You really, really suck, Ouma Shu…"

Ayase leaves the room.

Tsugumi is standing there quietly, appearing to be in the verge of tears. As I should've seen from the start, it seems Tsugumi is really very, very attached to her prized creation called Funell, which I just insulted with utmost hate.

"Gai, please punch me."

He smashes his fist against cheek without objection, not even a word. I take the hit like a man, feeling how the impact carries some leftover anger from the incident with Inori.

"You can swing one too… the other cheek is fine."

I swallow my pride as I offer a free hit to the girl before me, placing more weight upon my debt to her than on my wish for vengeance against the little bugger.

"No… it's fine… if that's the way you see him, it's just fine."

The fuck? It's not fine at all! See, Tsugumi? You're leaving the room too! Agh, damn it all! She follows after Ayase, unwilling to stay with me any longer – she even left the bugger there unassembled in the table.

"You are terrible at dealing with people, Shu."

"No shit, Triton."

Thank you for stating the obvious.

"I guess we'll leave your training until tomorrow… I need a word with the girls."

Triton offers his help.

"No, don't bother. I'll deal with them myself; it is something I must do alone."

Which I reject.

"You sure?"

He insists.

"Yeah… I cannot have others fix my problems for me anymore."

And I decline again. I really feel that way… I must overcome my social inaptitude by my own accord, or else I'd be unfit to be part of the Funeral Parlor. Everyone here seems to be quite close to each other, so I must learn how to be part of a group as well – I cannot make them adapt to me; it should be the other way around.

And besides, there is something else I have to do before I start training. I ponder about it for a few seconds, considering whether I should deal with Tsugumi and Ayase first or if my unfinished matters in the city are more urgent.

I sigh, giving more importance to the latter option.

"Triton, this is sudden, but… I'd like to go back to my house for a day or two."

I am answered with a questioning look, like I thought I would. I just got here, and thus I know it would be weird to ask for a couple of days of absence, but I know it will be impossible for me to concentrate if I don't do what I must.

"I want to apologize to someone."

Triton laughs.

"You fucked up elsewhere too?"

I sure did.

"Yes, I accidentally involved a friend in the madness yesterday. The uniform Inori wore was hers, you see… I must give it back and beg for her forgiveness."

Triton seems to dislike the idea.

"You should stay here, Shu."

He must be worried about my safety.

"I really must go, Triton… my false innocence will be exposed if I suddenly disappear. Don't you think it'd be useful if the GHQ were ignorant about my true identity?"

I'm evil.

"There's still the off-chance that you'll be in danger outside… But if you put it that way…"

I know it is dangerous, but all I want is to reach Hare and have a word with Haruka. However, if I point out something potentially useful to Tsutsugami Gai, such as the possibility of keeping my name clean for a little longer… I just may sway him into approving my suggestion.

"Haruka still works with Sephirah… if you continue living normally for the following week or two, we may find a way to allow Tsugumi to gather important intelligence about the GHQ… and we will also be protecting you from any assassination attempts if you are believed to be an ordinary student…"

He's saying some dangerous things as he submerges himself in deep thought.

"Keep Haruka out of this, I don't want to endanger her. But I do like the part about avoiding the assassins, so I think I should keep my innocence intact for a while."

I try to object.

"No, the assassins are not a problem if we keep you here. We only need to keep you hidden from them, and nobody knows our location – so if we lock you up in our headquarters, you'll be perfectly safe."

Damn it, Gai.

"So keeping my public image clear will be useful only for spying on Haruka?"

"Exactly; that is its only potential use for us as an organization."

"And so, you mean to say that having the assassins unaware of my existence is important only if I do agree to spy on her."

"Yes, that is correct."

We're clashing here.

"I won't let you out needlessly, Shu. If you want to return to your civil life, even for only a few days, you must be serving a purpose for the Parlor. You can't expect me to allow you to casually walk in the open now that you have the Power of the King, can you?"

But he's got a point.

"No… I guess I can't."

Triton looks at me seriously.

"If you want to apologize to your friend, then do so while you fulfill a mission for us. That way you won't be wasting time you could be spending here on training."

So he's offering me a deal.

"Haruka may have access to information we need. Should you agree to sneak some files for Tsugumi into Haruka's work computer, I'd have a reason to let you go outside. This is an optional mission, however… so I won't force you to undertake it if you do not wish to."

I don't have a speck of intention to put Haruka at risk of any kind, but I do need to go out and talk to her… I guess I'll play along with Gai for now.

"I'll do it."

Gai sighs.

"Then I'll make some necessary preparations… wait for me in the library room."

We part ways as I take the one chance I have to protect my family – if the Funeral Parlor's objective is to destroy Sephirah, I absolutely must keep Haruka away from the fight. Even if it means I'll have to disobey Gai… I won't abandon anyone dear to me anymore.

I will have a word with Hare first, and then a long and serious conversation with Haruka when she gets home; they are the ones I need to see the most right now. Please wait for me, you two… I'll be seeing you soon.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Camaraderie, Pt. II

"This is Kyo; she will act as your shield for this mission."

I stand inside the library with Inori, Gai, and the young girl currently being introduced to me by our leader. I am surprised, really… the one being tasked with my protection is at least two years younger than I am, and is as short as Tsugumi. She doesn't look very imposing at all, and for some reason I truly doubt she is a combatant as skilled as Inori is.

"Do not let her appearance fool you. She may appear inoffensive, but she is more capable in battle than any regular troop in the Funeral Parlor."

Sometimes I feel like Gai reads my mind, saying that when I was skeptical about her abilities. I assume he appointed her to me because she blends with the crowd very easily, though, rather than her combat prowess.

"However, the reason why I'm entrusting your life to her is not the easiness with which she blends with the crowd. Draw her Void, Shu."

Are you for real? That really was telepathy. But wait…

"Her Void? Uh… alright…"

I'm confused now. How would Gai know about her void? I'm truly getting convinced that there's something unnatural about him. I'll have to ask him later… there's something fishy about his insight. But for now…

"Are you fine with that, Kyo?"

I cast my curiosity aside and ask what I must before doing anything.

"Go ahead."

The girl nods in approval, granting me permission to actually materialize and hold her very soul with my hands; no matter how I see it, this is no small deal. Hell, it's just hitting me that the Power of the King has a greater weight than I had imagined. But still I have to do this, even if I feel like I am crossing into the most intimate section of personal space.

"If you'll excuse me, then…"

My footsteps echo throughout the library as I walk towards her until we stand looking face to face. I extend my hand towards her chest, and circle of clear, blue light forms beneath my feet, as does another smaller one above the heart my fingers are approaching. Threads of silver flow out from both circles and a majestic artifact emerges out of Kyo as I firmly pull out the essence of her spirit.

I am humbled as I stare in awe at that which lies in my grasp – a seemingly unbreakable shield that would perhaps be depicted as a holy relic if ever met by a priest's eyes.

Gai said Kyo would be my shield, but I wasn't even close to imagining he was speaking literally. Neither did Kyo, now that I notice… both of us are dumbfounded by what we are seeing. Only Gai and Inori seem to be unimpressed, the former probably because he already knew and the latter because she's never impressed at anything.

"It's pretty."

Well, that's something. At least Inori said a couple of words, though they are _utterly _an understatement – the power I feel coursing inside the soul I am wielding is immense, well enough to be worthy of a legend or two in its name.

"That… was inside of me?"

Kyo seems to understand as well the magnitude of her own spirit, judging from how her breath was taken away like mine was. We aren't to be blamed, though… only a fool would be unable to feel the aura of protection emanating from the artifact. The damned threads of silver swirling around us do not help at all either, as they add up directly to the Void's already high level of awesomeness.

"That is the power of your soul, Kyo – the protection of those dear to you."

Gai feeds us a shitty explanation that makes me hope I am dear to the shield's owner.

"Protecting Shu is protecting our future. Therefore, you will be the one to guard if you engaged in combat. Your priority will be to endure long enough for the Parlor to assist you, without having to draw Inori's void out."

As he elaborates through the details, he mentions something strange.

"Why not just use the sword?"

I ask this time.

"Two reasons. The first is because it's the strongest Void of all, and so we don't want Sephirah to know too much about it. We will reserve the use of Inori's Void exclusively for top-priority missions to keep the element of surprise in our favor."

Now I understand the reasoning behind his decision.

"So you intend to hide our trump card. I see… that way the enemy's security measures will not be as drastic as they'd be if they knew what they are facing."

Gai nods in assent to my statement.

"The GHQ already knows about the sword, but very vaguely. Because they've only seen it cutting Endlaves apart, they ignore the true extent of its potential."

A chill goes down my spine.

"Gai… wouldn't that by itself make them cautious? Endlaves are war machines, and they are among the most powerful ones at that. I believe that encountering a personal weapon that slices through them like butter has already served as a good enough warning."

I make my point clear, still uncertain as of why Gai is so confident the GHQ underestimates us even after the fight outside the tunnel. In response, the Funeral Parlor's leader cracks up a vicious smile.

"You saw the light when you first drew the sword, right?"

How could I have missed it? It went so high that perhaps it pierced Heaven itself.

"Yes… why?"

Gai walks towards us.

"Did you think it was just for show?"

My heart skips a beat, and even Kyo's soul reacts, as the silver threads change their flow.

"I had us come to this room because it is several floors high – enough to be unscathed by Kyo's void being released. The amount of light a soul emits is directly proportional to its power. What do you think would happen if you drew Inori's sword here?"

I look up to the roof and confirm its height is a joke compared to that which the sword's radiance reached. I'm speechless upon realizing how the shield that I still grip in my hand is ridiculously dwarfed by the power of Inori's spirit.

"The building would fall on top of us. You'd live, tough… the sword would protect you."

I gulp and cover my face with my hand to hide at least a bit of the shock in my expression. If I hadn't used the sword myself and experienced its power firsthand, I'd have refused to believe Gai's words.

"You are practically invincible while using that weapon, Shu. However, the extent of its power is also its own disadvantage and thus the second reason why you must avoid using it unless you out of options. Keep this in mind: whenever you draw it, the GHQ will notice, and everyone around you will be in risk of being killed by them.

If you are reckless enough, they may even fire a Leukocyte on you, so you must be extremely careful… I don't know if the sword can block a shot from one of those."

Gai is very talented at moving my mind from one shocking piece of information to another. I don't know what the Leukocyte he's talking about is, but he's just mentioned a weapon that is possibly capable of overpowering the sword's protection. This is intense news, considering I shrugged off bullets and even missiles when I used it in battle.

Kyo, seeing I am ignorant about it, explains the situation to me in a grim tone.

"The Leukocyte is a system of satellites equipped with mass destruction weaponry. Currently there's only two or three of them in orbit, but eventually enough will be launched to have 24-hour coverage over all of Japan."

I listen to her explanation in horror, and Gai takes on from where she left off.

"When that happens, they'll be able to strike at any target in the country at any moment."

"Gai, why would they build something like that?"

"To exterminate the Japanese people if the Apocalypse Virus goes out of control. You were lucky back then when you got the Genome, for it seems none of the satellites were in a favorable location to fire at us."

This is unbelievable. I knew the Anti-Bodies were ruthless, but going as far as preparing to wipe a whole country off the map is too much… more so when they themselves are experimenting with the virus in the shade.

"Before openly using Inori's Void, we must first destroy the Leukocyte system and free Japan from its invisible cage. It will be until then that we'll be able to fight with full force."

Gai finishes his explanation as the remaining three of us listen in silence.

"Now for the mission, Shu, here are your orders. You will return to your home today and from tomorrow on you'll attend school normally until Haruka returns from work. Seeing how you have been missing for nearly a day, it is likely you'll meet with her very soon.

Your objective is to sneak a spying program into Haruka's work computer. According to intelligence we have gathered about her, we know she has a portable computer with her at all times – that machine will be your target."

And there he goes explaining things I do not want to hear. I have no intention of doing anything Gai is instructing me to do… my real objective is to ensure Haruka's safety, not to put her in danger the way Gai is suggesting. Should Sephirah find that information was leaked because of her, she'd be punished. I cannot allow that.

"All you need to do is to insert a Data Cube infected with our virus into it. The best way would be for you to infect either Haruka's or your own Cube and then insert it into the computer."

He gives me a piece of advice as he hands over a green crystal – it is a Data Cube, a device which supplanted USB storage a few years ago and has become the portable data technology of choice ever since.

"The virus will grant us access to any passwords stored in the infected computer. It will spread itself through any other Data Cubes inserted into it, and also by sending its files through any e-mail leaving an infected machine. This way, there is a chance our program will manage to sneak into an important system if Haruka is careless."

Gai continues with his instructions, but I see a flaw in his plan.

"But there's also a chance it won't. Will you be leaving the mission's success to fortune?"

I point it out, pretending to seem interested to avoid raising suspicion about my intention to disobey his orders. I'll have to think of a way to make it seem like it was inevitable… if Gai believes I had no choice but to take Haruka to the Parlor for protection, there won't be much of a negative impact to our camaraderie.

"I won't, I was about to mention that. You will make sure the virus finds its way into Sephirah's system, Shu. I'll leave the method of choice to you since you know Haruka the best, but Inori and Kyo will also be instructed to assist you with ideas and support."

And there goes the difficult part… Inori and Kyo will be looking at everything I do, unless I find a way around their watchful eyes.

"But they'll come back here to Headquarters once they ditch me at home, won't they?"

Naturally, I'll be free to do as I please once they fulfill their escort duties and leave.

"That cannot happen. You need bodyguards, so they'll be living with you until the mission is done."

…

"I think the glass hurt my head pretty bad… I believe I misheard what you said."

There's no way he is serious about it.

"You heard me right. You have from now until you get home to think of either a hiding place for them, or an excuse for Haruka to allow their stay."

I have seen in many anime series how the cliché of a girl suddenly having to live in a guy's house is used, but Gai here went to extreme levels and has just ordered me to take in not only one, but two girls… both of them practically my age, and one of them cute as hell.

"Are you mad? I will never, ever be able to introduce them to Haruka without raising any suspicion about them. She hasn't even seen either of them before!"

"Then don't let her see them. Each will be equipped with a stealth suit to avoid detection, but if they are sensed then you may have to take safety measures. I've already instructed Inori and Kyo what to do in case of being noticed, but it'd be better not to use that plan."

"What will they do?"

"You'll know if they are forced to take action."

Gai you bastard… seeing how you keep information from me, I cannot truly come to trust your methods. I am reluctant to believe you'd do any harm to Haruka, but seeing how you are not being hesitant to put her in danger, I am afraid I must doubt you.

"I will spare them the trouble, then."

Saying that, I take the green cube from Gai's hand and make way for the door to leave the library. Using my will, I order the shield in my hand to go back to its owner, and the threads of silver that never went away also vanish once the void is sealed within Kyo.

The two girls catch up to me and the three of us tread through the cold, grey corridors of the Parlor's headquarters. Our footsteps resound audibly as their noise bounces off the hard stone around us as we head to the garage for transport.

"Are you alright, Shu?"

Inori questions me about my welfare. I must look agitated… I guess I failed at keeping my troubled emotions from showing on my face.

"I'm mad at Gai… that's all."

The pink-haired girl seems dispirited at my words, as she lowers her gaze looking uneasy. It must be painful for her if there's a quarrel between Gai and me… even though we've met only recently, I can tell I've grown to be important to her – even Argo and Tsugumi said the same thing, seeing how she injected me with the Genome instead of destroying it.

However, I can't help being mad at my old friend – he should know very well how difficult it'd be for me to do what he's asking me to do. His methods and mine clash.

"You don't need to be worried, Shu. Gai has a reputation for having never failed the Parlor in the years he's been in command, so you can be certain we will succeed. Inori is shy and she isn't saying it, but you also have the two of us with you. You can trust us."

Kyo lightens the mood a little, assuring me nothing will go wrong. She seems to be honest, which keeps me from doubting her words. I believe in Inori as well, so I'll pray things go better than I expect them to go… we need all the luck we can get blessed with.

"Yeah… I trust you. Thanks, both of you."

Inori smiles a little and seems to be relieved as I loosen my tension. Before long, we reach the garage's entrance – a large metallic door which is already open for us. We walk into the dimly illuminated place housing a large number of vehicles, and find ourselves facing a large man I had briefly seen before in the library, when I was introduced to the rest.

"Ogumo! Is the car ready?"

"Ah, Kyo… Yes, we're leaving soon."

"This is Ouma Shu, I'm sure you know him by now."

"Yes, I've seen him a couple of times."

I wasn't mistaken, he's seen me as well. I offer my hand to him as I walk closer.

"Ogumo, right?"

He takes my offer and we shake hands as he nods his head. Damn, this guy is massive… he's gripping me quite hard. I can bet one of Inori's nods that his Void is something huge and blunt, like a war hammer or a big ass club.

We let our handshake go, and Ogumo turns to enter the truck he was apparently getting ready for us to travel in. He goes for the driver's seat, so I walk towards the passenger and rear doors and open them both for Inori and Kyo to enter as well. I'm such a gentleman, ensuring the girls go in before I do.

"Shotgun!"

Kyo happily claims the front seat for herself and gets up inside in one jump, so I am left to offer my hand to Inori to help her climb up the fairly large vehicle. Inori accepts my help and - success! Our hands meet. Ahh… I love this girl. Her skin is soft and smooth, and I get to catch her delicious scent as she moves past me towards her seat.

I'm seriously starting to wonder if I decided to protect her because I kept my word of assisting someone in need, or if I found her too beautiful to be left alone. Well… I remember her voice captivated me in an instant, so the latter reason doesn't seem too off.

"Shu."

While I am busily goofing off in my mind, Inori calls to me extending her own hand from inside the truck. How would I refuse? Taking one for the team, I allow her to spoil me with her attention and let her help me up to reach my sit in Cobain, right behind Kyo.

Ogumo starts the truck and loosens the brakes as a pair of Parlor members opens the heavy doors for us. The daylight shining from outside illuminates the whole garage and makes me realize the place is freaking enormous, much more than I had originally perceived – for the life of me, I cannot tell how Gai got his hands on so many transports… there's even an Endlave, different from the one Ayase was piloting yesterday.

"Just leave us in the outskirts of the city, we'll walk to a train station on our own."

Kyo instructs Ogumo what to do while Inori and I wordlessly stay in the back seats. Now that I look at her again, I realize she's wearing the same sweater I'd given to her yesterday. It is now clean from all the dirt and blood we were covered in when we were rescued, so I must assume she had it cleaned immediately after we arrived to Headquarters.

Wait, I mentioned blood. Damn! I'm the worst… I never asked her!

"Uh, Inori… how is your arm? You had it checked, right?"

I can't believe I forgot to see if her wound was taken care of, after all the effort I put into treating her back at home! Ouma Shu is a failure as a gentleman, nothing more than a fake who cannot even ensure his beloved is in good health.

Inori nods, but I don't deserve witnessing the beauty manifesting before me… I feel like a piece of shit, having forgotten about her condition after meeting with Triton again.

"I went to the infirmary after we arrived, I'm fine."

She tells me of her recovery while softly rubbing the healed arm with her hand. I notice she has just realized something, as looks at me curiously before moving closer and trying to reach for… whoa, whoa – why is she reaching for my face?

Kyo senses the commotion and turns around to see, surely hunting for future gossip about Inori and me. I am startled, seeing how the distance between Inori's face and mine is dangerously shrinking while she pulls my head closer to hers. God, she is bold.

Before getting into any action, however, she stops. Both Kyo and I are disillusioned as Inori fixes her eyes to my forehead. Ah, now I see… she's staring into my bandage. I'd forgotten I still have it on, after being hit by Ayase and all that followed.

"You're better too."

Inori speaks softly, claiming I am no longer a unicorn with that damned bump in the middle of my forehead. However, I don't believe her at all… for a moment. Now that she mentions if, I don't feel pain anymore.

The concentrated mass of beauty before me proceeds to unbind the bandage on my head, and – dear God – nods pointblank to me in approval to her own words.

"I knew it."

Well, she seemed very certain of her diagnose ever since the start… but I do wonder how on Earth I managed to fully recover in only a few hours. The damned glass was shattered, and it was a pretty hard one at that… I thought my head would hurt for several days.

"Whoa, Shu… you heal fast."

Even Kyo is amazed.

"You saw the wound?"

I ask her, intrigued about how she seems to know about how badly I was struck.

"No, but Tsugumi told me about it. She said the bruise would be there a week."

See my point? I never got to see myself in a mirror, but from the pain and the magnitude of the glass' impact, I could easily tell without needing my eyes to confirm.

"Shu is the King now."

Both of us turn to her in confusion. There are no doubts about me having taken the Void Genome and lived to use its power, but I feel there's more meaning in her words than Kyo and I have understood.

"You will grow stronger from now on. Please look after us."

And now she asks me to protect her. That's what I've been doing since I met her, but again I feel she's saying it with a greater depth than it appears.

"Inori? What are you talking about?"

We hit something on the road as I ask, and the whole truck shakes heavily. I tense up, ready to draw Kyo's shield at any sign of danger. Inori and Kyo are calm, though, and Ogumo laughs at me.

"Just a bump in the road."

Kyo smiles at Ogumo's remark and Inori looks at me blankly, wondering why I got so worked up over such a small thing.

"You scared the shit out of me! I thought we were under attack!"

Kyo laughs in Ogumo's stead, and Inori takes my hand in reassurance.

"We are together; there is nothing to be afraid of."

Man, her confidence in me just warms my heart. Kyo smiles even more as she watches us, and turns away to… give us some privacy, I guess. Damn them all, there'll be more gossip indeed when we get back to Headquarters… I won't be able to get Tsugumi's misleading comments off my back once she catches word of this, and Ayase's enthusiasm in calling me a pervert will be reinvigorated.

I stay in silence, discretely keeping hold of Inori's hand while we continue going to the city. We're in the highway by the mountainside by now. I didn't look outside the window very much when we departed from the garage, but I believe the Funeral Parlor's headquarters is hidden somewhere off the road a few minutes away from the city.

"This is as far as we go. Remember to take the bags out the trunk."

Ogumo speaks to us as he pulls over in a desolate section of the highway, already close to the city's outskirts. The other three of us follow his instructions, and exit the vehicle to make way for its rear, where the trunk's lid clicks open for us.

As promised, there are three bags full of… what the fuck? Camping gear?

"Thanks, Ogumo! Have a safe trip back."

"Welcome."

Kyo waves her hand to our driver before shutting the trunk close while Inori and I get the bags up and ready on our shoulders. Ogumo nonchalantly waves back at her, not even turning to look, and makes a U-turn to return to where we came from.

"What are these for?"

Curiosity gets the best of me, as I am unable to refrain from asking why we're carrying the damned bags… they're kind of heavy.

"Weapons."

Inori utters a single word, striking fear into my heart. She sounds dangerous whenever she speaks about anything related to combat… I'd hate having her as an enemy.

"And disguise, too. Camping is a valid excuse to be outside near the mountain, you see. That way we can do this…"

Kyo holds her hand high, waving at someone behind us. While I turn around to see, a cab pulls over by our side, unlocking its doors for us to get in. I see… that's clever.

"Oh! You two again? I see you've brought a friend this time."

Holy shit. Why, of all the taxi drivers in the city, did we have to get picked up by the same guy as yesterday outside school!?

"Ah, yes… we took the day off."

The old man laughs heartily at my nervous reply.

"After the mad firefight yesterday night, who'd not take the day off? Those terrorists are people we're better off without… it's good to see youngsters such as you enjoying life out here in what's left of nature. It makes me feel nostalgic, remembering the old times when I was a child myself. Ah… those good old days have gone by already."

The man is much more talkative today than he was last time. Maybe he did talk to us back then and I didn't notice… I was too tense to pay attention to him; the wounded Inori and the Anti-Bodies about to bust us on school were all that was in my mind at the time.

"Can you take us to the closest station, please?"

Kyo asks politely, to which the driver complies with a thumb up. Much to my liking, he is still young at heart, despite his countless wrinkles and white hair. I hope I'll have a spirit like his when I grow old, if I ever do… the GHQ may kill me sometime soon.

He mentioned something about terrorists, now that I look back at what he said. That must be us, ha-ha. I should get updated with the CyberNews once I get back home. It is a pity newspapers were replaced with websites… I never got to hold the paper myself. But what the hell, I shouldn't be worrying about that – Shu, keep your mind on what's important: you must find a way to deal with Inori and Kyo at home.

We're close to the station already, and I haven't thought about any solution to their presence… I guess I'll have to improvise once we arrive at my place. I'll just pray to the gods that Haruka isn't home when we do, or else I'll have hell to pay.

"It'll be 1400 yen."

Ah, speaking of hell to pay. I reach for my wallet, wincing in pain as I hear the number… and realize it is empty. I spent down the last of my pocket money when I called Gai for rescue, and my card is uselessly forgotten at home. Well, fuck.

"Here it is."

Kyo saves the day and pays the old man for the long trip we asked of him, and I am thankful to her from the bottom of my heart and wallet alike.

"Stay safe, kids! And stay young!"

I look around us carefully as the cab leaves, suspecting the chance that the old man may have been interrogated about us yesterday after he dropped us off and has now somehow reported us to the Anti-Bodies. He seemed very friendly, but it is healthy to stay alert… one never knows by whom he may be betrayed.

We buy three tickets for the station close to my home, and take the earliest train headed there. Once we are up, Kyo walks away from us and sits in a distant seat.

"She'll keep watch on us from afar."

Inori tells me about the situation. Gai must've instructed Kyo to do as she is doing now.

"To avoid having us look like a group, huh?"

I elaborate in Inori's stead.

"Yes. They do not know her either… she can save us from a pinch."

I see… Inori is right; the Anti-Bodies know nothing about Kyo. If they try to sneak upon us, she can sneak upon them in return. Sounds like a good approach… it should work. We'd be better off not using her Void at all to refrain from drawing too much attention, so it would indeed be better to play safe and use conventional methods as much as possible.

We stay in silence after that, as we continue our journey home. Somewhere along the ride, Inori leans on my shoulder like she did the first time we rode the cab outside school. This time, however, she isn't faking our closeness… or so I believe, at least.

"Do you hate me, Shu?"

The fuck did that come from?

"Why would I?"

I'd have liked to say 'quite the contrary' but I don't want to be too direct… I might accidentally step on a landmine and screw things up. Patience, Shu, patience!

"I put a great burden on you without asking."

She means the Genome, I presume.

"Quite the contrary… you bestowed me the strength to protect you. I am thankful."

I suck at holding back, I admit it.

"But I tied you to it forever… you will never be the same."

Inori sounds… guilty. The same way I am burdened by my past actions, Inori must regret having done what she did. However…

"No matter how I look at it, meeting you has been a blessing. You have given me the chance to rise above myself, to redeem my own sins. You have given me something to fight for, and I'll be forever grateful to you, Inori. With all I have, I thank you."

Upon hearing the sincerest reply I could muster, Inori wraps her arms around one of mine and embraces it. I fight with all my might to keep a gasp from escaping my mouth: that softness which I'm feeling is boob contact – beyond any doubt, it's boob contact!

"You are too kind, Shu."

And you are too soft, Inori… but unlike you, I am not speaking figuratively.

I can see Kyo shaking her head in disapproval from the corner of my eyes… the damned midget must better not be recording any of this, or else I'll show her Inori's Void up close.

And I officially hate the world as of now: the annoying synthetized voice coming from the train's speakers is saying we're about to arrive to our destination, and thus we should be getting ready to leave. Inori does as instructed and – infinite sadness – lets go of me.

It is surprising, though, how Inori is more sentimental than she appears. I'm slowly getting to know the more girly side of her, for which I'm glad. It makes me happy how she's gradually opening up to me… I want to keep things going on this way.

I'll have a talk with her later on when Kyo isn't around; it's pretty awkward to get close like this when there's other people watching, so I'll refrain from taking the initiative for now. I don't want to feed Kyo with too much to tell the others later on, either… at least not any more than she has already witnessed.

We pick our bags up and exit the train once it stops. The three of us blend with the crowd busily walking through the station, which is more tightly packed with people than usual. It must be because of the destroyed tunnels, I assume… using the streets must be a mess right now, so it is only natural for the trains' passengers to increase in number.

"The cameras around here are offline, it's safe to move."

Kyo gives me some fancy information.

"How do you know that?"

She seems happy I asked.

"It was courtesy of Argo; he cut off their energy supply a few minutes ago. Tsugumi hasn't detected any mobilization, and our mole hasn't reported any movement either, so the path should be clear for us."

I see. The little bugger also left my door's connection to GHQ deactivated, so my arrival should be undetected. According to intelligence, I am not being actively looked for… and even if I am, I have Kyo right here with me. Well, let's go for it.

We walk directly to my department complex and use the elevator to reach my floor. Inori presses her hand against the recognition panel and… it opens the door.

"Why can you open it?"

I have no qualms about it – it even makes me glad that she can enter my place whenever she wants to, but the fact she can do so still pinches at my curiosity.

"Funell did so."

Ah, that little bugger did it. Well… he did good, I guess. The girl has free access to my house, which makes me feel like we've grown at least a step closer to each other.

We walk in, and I take my shoes off, but Inori and Kyo don't. Inori takes Kyo with her and guides her directly to the bathroom. I knew girls tend to go in groups, but that's usually in places with more than one single toilet… uh… I won't ask.

Keeping my mouth shut and not minding the girls, I look around my house to see if Haruka is around, to find she isn't. I check the phone for recorded messages and see there's a single one of them. Gulping, I press the button to make it play.

"_Shu, are you there? I've been calling your phone, but it's not picking up at all. Please call me as soon as you can, I must speak urgently to you. I can't return home yet; things are insane here in the office, so I beg of you to contact me as soon as you hear this message!_

_I love you, boy… please be safe."_

I feel like the most violently odorous piece of shit in the whole city. Haruka has been worried sick for me because my phone broke. Damn it, I should've called her somehow just to tell her I'm fine. Resolving myself, I pick up the receiver, but a voice behind me stops me before I punch a single number.

"Don't do that, Shu… they'll trace us."

It's Inori, without her sweater and holding in her hands a flowery red leotard with red spoilers just like the one I saw her wearing the first time we met. The one with the otherworldly cleavage, yes… that one. Hehe… that one…

"I'll go change."

Please do, I can't wait. She leaves after stopping me and saying a lovely trio of words. That's why she went straight to the bathroom with Kyo, I see… But wait! Kyo won't wear one of those, will she? Dear God, I truly doubt the image would suit her… seeing someone else clothed like that would only tarnish Inori's godlike looks!

Damn… I must escape… I must… Ah, I know!

"I'll be next door briefly, Inori. I must have a word with a friend of mine."

Yes, I have to talk with Hare, and right now is a very good time to give it a go.

"Shu, wait!"

Kyo shouts from the distance, trying to dissuade me.

"I'm gone! I'll be right outside, just rush over if you hear anything unusual."

I have to hurry while they're half-naked and they can't follow me… I know it's dangerous to go out alone, but the area is supposedly secure, and I'd feel very awkward talking to Hare with Inori and Kyo right by our side. They're strangers for her, after all, and she'd probably be tense around Inori after witnessing her killing a soldier, so I'd like to enjoy some time alone with my friend.

I stick my head out the door to see if there's anyone outside, and nearly shit my pants in the process – there's someone standing right before me, taking me aback by surprise. Damn, I was caught totally off-guard! A whimper of horror escapes my mouth as I fall on my butt, accidentally kicking the door open.

Inori rushes outside the bathroom, holding only a towel to cover her naked body as she stands in front of me and… my friend, Yahiro. He clears his throat as he looks aside hastily, turning around to walk away.

"Sorry for interrupting… I'll get going now."

Someone kill me, please. Inori has a gun out, with which she can – HOLY FUCK, A GUN! Mother of God, she was about to shoot Yahiro with that! It is a miracle he was too startled with her nakedness that he missed seeing it the same way I did at first!

But dude! My nose is bleeding so hard from seeing Inori like that, yet what pisses me off right now is the fact that no matter how much I try to avoid them, misunderstandings always find a damned way to get worse every time!

"He's a friend, so go get clothed immediately!"

I order Inori to go away before I lose my composure. She looks at herself and blushes so furiously that I wouldn't be surprised if her head exploded in a few moments.

How am I supposed to face Yahiro now? Fucking shit, I'm glad no one from the Parlor witnessed this. Ah, shit! Scratch that; Kyo must've seen it all! Aghhh! I'm done for…

Ugh… I grab my nose with my hand and shake the blood away like a boss before heading out to catch up with Yahiro.

"Man! This is NOT what it seems to be!"

This is the second time I have used the lamest excuse there is in existence, and it is also the second time that in a twisted turn of fate I am saying it for real. I swear this is all a misunderstanding! On my life, I mean it!

"Yes, right… Go back, take your time. It's cool. "

WHY DOESN'T ANYONE BELIEVE ME!?

"Yahiro, please…"

I beg him to have faith in me.

"No, I get it… that's why you have no time to visit Hare."

I am delivered a low blow instead.

"Dude! Don't say anything to her about this, not a word!"

Yahiro seems pissed off at me beyond belief. I can feel his hate rising to dangerous levels, apparently because of repulsiveness to my supposed lustfulness.

"How would I dare to? She's in the hospital; knowing this is the last thing she needs."

SAYWHAT!?

"Wh- what are you talking about?"

This must be a joke… a cheap blow again… please let it be…

"She was injured yesterday during the firefight. I came here looking for you, because you didn't' answer your phone and you hadn't visited either. But seeing how you are too busy, I think I'll go back alone."

My knees give in, and I am forced to support my weight against the wall. Hare was wounded during the firefight? Right after we left? Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck! This can't be true! This can't… AGH!

I slam my tightly closed hand on the wall, leaving a crack on the stone as it well deserves. The noise is extraordinary, enough to surprise Yahiro and make him take a step back. But I do not care about any of this – all I want is to see Hare, NOW!

"Inori, we're leaving!"

I advance towards Yahiro and turn him around to make him walk with me.

"Take me to her."

I order him to guide me, not allowing any rebuttal.

"Shu, wait!"

I ignore the female voice behind me, even as I hear her hasty noises inside. She must be hurrying the hell up to follow me. Said and done, Inori rushes behind us, wearing once again the black dress she had on when we left and the sweater I gave to her.

"Who is she?"

Yahiro asks, confused about the events unfolding before him.

"A friend, I'll tell you later. We must go to Hare first."

As we walk in a fast pace towards the station, I realize Kyo is following us from a distance. She is keeping her presence concealed from Yahiro, the same way she was staying away from us in the previous train ride.

Yahiro buys three tickets – one for him, and two for Inori and me, since I still have no money on me as I forgot my card at home again. I promise to pay him next day at school, and we take the first ride we can to the station close to the hospital.

"What happened to her?"

I finally dare to ask, having calmed down enough to talk normally. I was too altered back there outside my department… I'd have snapped at any poor comment Yahiro might have thrown my way.

"I don't know the details; she hasn't woken up yet. Souta is there right now, so I'll let him know we're on our way."

He tells me what he knows as he draws his phone to text Souta. I notice it's night already, now that I see my surroundings… Given how we got into the train at peak hour, there's no places left to sit on, so we have to go all the way on our feet.

A few minutes pass, and the three of us stand there awkwardly, not knowing what to say. Kyo is also in silence, discretely watching us from a couple of meters away. Man, my head is a mess right now… I have no idea how I'll walk into Hare's room, and what will I –

Wait… something is wrong. We're slowing down. Inori senses the change too, and looks around cautiously. I sneak a peek outside the window and see there's a large number of Anti-Bodies stationed right outside. Fucking shit, we were spotted.

Beyond any doubt, they are waiting for us. I take a step forward to keep Yahiro behind me – I can tell Kyo is making way for us in this moment, and so I'll draw her Void as soon as she reaches me. The moment the soldiers see us directly, hell will break loose inside this wagon… but I will not fail to protect a friend again – I will keep Yahiro safe behind me.

The doors in front of me are sliding open, and now I know Kyo won't make it in time. If the soldiers approach, I'll pull both Inori and Yahiro aside towards her, and so I'll draw her void while we use the train's walls as cover.

I take a deep breath while I still can. I bend my knees, ready to grab these two and make it for Kyo's protection. There's visual contact between the soldiers and me. I order my body to move, but I am somehow thrown in an unexpected direction. Why? I'm sure I was prepared to pull off the maneuver… so why am I moving towards the soldiers?

I fall down hard on the floor outside the train, taken completely by surprise. My back hurts as I turn around to see what happened inside the train, and to my innermost horror I witness Yahiro regaining his composure by Inori's side, who is as shocked as I am.

"What the hell, Yahiro?"

He kicked me. There's no mistaking it; he was right behind me, and I can still feel the sole of his shoe aching on my back.

"WHAT THE HELL, YAHIRO!?"

The wagon's doors close as the train resumes movement, taking the dumfounded Inori away with a grim-looking Yahiro. I do not get to see Kyo before the wagon leaves me behind, but something else is clear to me: I am now alone in the cold floor of the night, surrounded by a full squad of Anti-Bodies pointing their guns at me.

I've been betrayed.


	12. Chapter 11

_Hey, I'm back! Sorry about the long delay, things were rather busy during the summer and I was unable to write as much as I'd have liked to, but you'll be seeing regular updates from now on. I have a deadline to finish the whole story before November 15__th__, so I'll be posting quite a few chapters a week until all is finished._

_I've rewritten all of the previous content for quality improvement, proofreading and such. The events are all still the same, so rereading it all is not necessary, but if you'd like to do so then feel free – I believe you'll see the difference._

_I have 30 days to write 20 chapters, so I'll be updating at most every 48 hours hahaha it will be utter insanity. For now I'll leave Chapter 11 for you to read while the rest is done. Do enjoy._

_Vuken _

Chapter 11

Of Loyalty & Treason

I lay miserably upon the cold floor, still feeling the pain of how magnificently I was stabbed in the back by someone I was willing to risk my life for. I can catch a glimpse of the train's last wagon passing by, clearly telling me I will not be getting any assistance from either of the girls that accompanied me.

Hell, this is fucked up. I can feel something inside me broke into little pieces just now, as my inside is suffering from an emotional shitstorm of biblical proportions. The result is I can't concentrate in anything at all, be it my utter hate against Yahiro for setting me up, the guilt for making Inori be as damned worried as she surely is in this moment, or the urge to vent everything with a well-placed fist to the face of whoever's approaching footsteps belong to.

"Ouma Shu-kun."

And the person closing in on me calls my name. It is a man, and he fashions a quite sinister voice... I cannot expect to have a good time dealing with him. I raise my torso and turn to face him, deciding he takes greater priority than any of the other problems raging inside of me and being prudent enough to not stand up with the rifles aimed at me. Judging from how he is wearing a white uniform, different from the armored gear the rest are wearing, I can safely assume he is their leader.

The man continues nonchalantly walking to reduce the distance between himself and the King of Fools sitting before him. He seems somewhat cheerful compared to the tense atmosphere around us; he is even closing his phone's screen just now, from where I can hear playing – of all things – the distinct music of a mobile videogame.

"You…"

He bows looking down on me as he speaks, already standing at talking distance. I am now convinced beyond a doubt that he is having fun, seeing how he deliberately paused talking to add suspense after starting his sentence. Naturally, what he'll say next is…

"… are under arrest."

Aww, really? Fuck you.

Replying to my silence, he bends his knees and crouches close to me, pulling a pair of handcuffs to bind my hands with. The thought of attempting to draw his Void to fight the Anti-Bodies crosses my mind, but doing so would mean betting my survival on its abilities. If his Void is too weak I'll be killed in an instant, and if it is too strong then its light will shine too bright to be unnoticed in the middle of the night. Taking the gamble is too risky, and thus is not a viable option… I'll have to wait for a chance to act.

I offer my wrists voluntarily to avoid raising hostilities between us. I am unaware of how much these guys know about me. If they are already informed that I am the bearer of the Power of the King, it wouldn't be strange for them to open fire if I show resistance.

Upon getting done with cuffing my hands, the man helps me up. This guy is unbelievable. He's condescendingly smiling at me, as if intending to say I am now a little piggy for him to toy with. Damn, he even has a small clown-shaped doll hanging from his phone, which is still even now playing some game's background music to accentuate his character.

"What a good friend you have."

He pokes fun at me, looking into the distance to where the train left off.

"No shit."

I retort directly, not amused at all.

"Ah, today's youth never ceases to amuse me."

I'm starting to hate this man. I am tempted to kick him down the rail while his attention is busy elsewhere – just the same way Yahiro did to me.

He turns his face to me again and then motions with it for me to move, raising his eyebrows as he looks towards the stairs leading to the streets on the floor below. Now that I get to see him again, I notice one of his eyes is artificial… mechanical, even. There's a large scar right beneath it, telling he lost it either in combat or in an accident.

"Shall we get going, Ouma-kun?"

He indicates the way with his extended hand as well, leaving no space for rebuttal.

"What can I do but comply?"

I reply coldly, unable to hide the hell of a mood I am currently in. The man laughs at me in a friendly tone, even patting my shoulder as we begin walking.

"Nothing at all, young man. It's good that you know your place."

We go down the poorly illuminated stairs. There's a light post close to us, but it seems the bulb has gone bad. Ah, no… these guys turned it off – I can vaguely see the shape of a truck hidden there in the dark. Moreover, there's not only little visibility to this area, but also hardly any sound; the only noise I can hear is that of the metallic steps resounding as we step on them. The Anti-Bodies must've redirected the traffic to avoid having any people stumbling upon us, reinforcements for me included.

Damn, this is bad. They'll take me to their headquarters for sure. There's no doubt I'll be interrogated, which would not be much of a problem by itself, since I am a loyal man and will not betray those I hold dear… unlike a certain piece of trash I know. The problem is the possibility that they may try to use Haruka to persuade me… or blackmail me to betray the Funeral Parlor. And that would be a TARFU scenario for Ouma Shu.

We have just reached a very large transport vehicle I dare not call a truck – it is more like a small bus. I am ordered to board first and take the farthest seat on the rear wall, which I do without complaints. Two, four, six, eight… there's ten men entering after me, taking the seats on the walls by my sides. Damn, there are nearly a dozen of us and we're not even tight – this thing is enormous.

The man who cuffed me enters last and closes the door behind him, and then proceeds to sit down right by my side. Not saying anything, he opens up his phone again and… resumes playing whatever he was playing before arresting me. This man knows no shame.

The driver starts the vehicle and slowly accelerates, most likely headed directly to the Anti-Bodies' home turf. I'm so screwed.

A minute or two pass before the man by my side – Scarface, as I'll call him for now – opens his mouth and speaks to me while still submerged in his little game.

"Ouma-kun, I have a question for you."

Not even waiting to arrive before interrogating me? Well, damn. I stay looking down as I already am doing, to avoid eye contact at all costs – I don't want to give him any hints about what I am thinking, for he may be able to trick me into revealing information if I am careless. I wait for him to proceed talking, keeping my silence as much as I can.

"Close-fitting underwear or tights, sometimes called spats or caleçon. Eight letters long. What do you think it is?"

…

Scarface is hopeless. He is serious about this – he is even looking at me, expecting a reply. What an absurd person… I can't believe it. Uh… close-fitting tights… um…

"Stockings?"

I play along in the end, having nothing better to do. My own phone is broken, ha-ha.

Scarface seems to like my answer, as he raises his eyebrows as in saying 'not bad' while punching the letters into his phone, but then shakes his head in displeasure.

"That's nine letters, Ouma-kun."

Scarface… screw your game.

"IT'S LEGGINGS!"

… I'll gouge his other eye out someday.

Scarface jumps excitedly in his place, even raising his phone up high in celebration upon finding the correct word. He continues rejoicing over his victory, busily typing the characters while speaking to himself.

"Okay, leggings… leggings…"

I look at him in silence, surprised at his weirdness. He's the kind of guy I wouldn't admit being friends with if someone asked. I'd like being in his good graces right now, though… I could use some help to get out of this situation.

"I hate leaving blank spaces in my crosswords, you see."

Good for you.

"So I'd like you to help fill in a few blanks for me, Ouma-kun."

Yeah, right… I'm not playing with you anymore.

"I've prepared a room you can think quietly in, though it's a bit small."

And he takes the conversation to the direction of my imprisonment.

"You're welcome to stay as long as it takes for you to solve my puzzle."

Or maybe not. I don't know if he's serious about anything anymore.

Ah, damn it… why did he, of all people, have to catch me? I'd very much like someone more energic… like a crazy American obsessed with putting guts into everything. Yes, that'd be at least a bit better than being with Scarface here; maybe I'd even befriend the gutsy guy. But hell, as if anyone like that would exist… there's hardly any amazing people left in the world. I'll just nod and smile to whatever Scarface says until we arrive.

In the meantime, I have to think of the best way to deal with this situation. I'm beginning to calm down, despite the annoying little sounds from Scarface's phone game that keep popping up as he enthusiastically keeps answering his crosswords. If I manage to keep my thoughts uninterrupted by outside interference, then perhaps I'll be able to come up with something. Katsu!

I breathe and close my eyes, then lower my posture in preparation to go deep in thought.

"Ouma-kun? Don't go off to meditate on us."

FOR FUCK'S SAKE, SCARFACE!

"I'm tired, that's all."

Damn it, damn it all! I'm still very volatile; this moron in here has a natural talent to get on my nerves. Somehow I manage to keep my agitation inside myself, but I don't think my mental fortitude will be enough to ignore this guy anytime soon.

In the end I have to put up with Scarface all of the way to GHQ's headquarters. From what little I can see outside the vehicle's small windows, I can tell we have already entered its installations. To confirm my assumption, our transport enters what I assume is the garage and parks shortly afterwards.

The truck's hind doors are swung open and the soldiers surrounding me step out. Scarface and I exit last, with the former kindly showing the way to me with a cynic smile. As I set foot outside, I see for myself just how vast the difference in power between GHQ and the Funeral Parlor is: while Gai has over two dozen vehicles at his disposal, I can easily see over a hundred military transports parked in this massive place.

I am given little time to be awestruck at GHQ's deployment capabilities, however, as Scarface is fast to make me follow him and the rest of his squad inside the building. I look attentively around me with as much discretion as I can to keep track of my location; chances are I'll need to know my way around here fairly soon if I somehow break free.

Scarface is keeping a close eye on me, however, so I am unable to memorize how to return to the garage – the only exit I yet know of – as well as I would have wanted to. This bastard is clever… he isn't letting me do anything: he purposely interrupted my train of thought during the ride here, and is now preventing me to grasp this place's layout.

I sneak a peek of his face and see he is smiling back at me. There's a fierce unspoken confrontation between us, in which he is clearly telling me I will not outwit him.

Fucking shit, I got caught by the devil himself… I must be extremely careful if he proceeds to interrogate me, for I am aware this guy is good at what he does. Talking with him will be dangerous, but I cannot stay quiet and not answer anything either since I fear that if I attempt to do so he will pull Haruka out as a token for blackmailing me.

Ah, I'm in deep shit.

I am taken to numerous places inside GHQ's headquarters while I think what to do. I am asked for my full name, get a few pictures of my face taken and made to register my hand prints in a digital panel. Finally, they proceed to do that which will likely be my doom: they stick a needle on my arm to get a blood sample off me.

This is very bad. Aside from the fact that I've had three different needles inside of me in two days, there's the problem that it is entirely possible for Sephirah to realize that I was injected with the Void Genome. Fuck, who am I kidding saying it's entirely possible? It is an absolute reality: Sephirah WILL know I have the Void Genome inside of me.

It is just a matter of time – once the results are done, chances are I'll be shot on spot. If I am lucky, that is… I wouldn't be surprised at all if Sephirah did something drastic like draining all of my blood to retrieve their prized sample. I'm so fucked, so fucked.

Ominous thoughts fill my mind, so I am somewhat surprised when I find myself alone with Scarface inside a plain room with a table and two chairs in its middle. Satan's very incarnation takes the seat closest to him and motions me to plant my soon-to-be-dead ass in the chair opposite to him.

I do as I am told, having no other option. I am still cuffed in the middle of hostile territory and he has a gun with him too, so being cooperative is my best option. Judging from how we are alone in a secluded room, I can guess I will be interrogated.

Things will get very delicate from here on... if I'm not careful, I might be killed. I cannot keep my mouth shut and say nothing, since Scarface does have ways of forcing me to speak, but I cannot play dumb and lie my way out of here either: I can clearly understand the man sitting before me cannot be deceived by conventional methods.

"Ouma-kun, you look troubled."

God damn it, Scarface, let me think in peace! Agh, this bastard knows well how to keep me in a state of mental turmoil; he isn't letting me settle down and think properly.

"My friend kicked me off the train; how would I be happy about it?"

I give a superficial answer, just to buy some time. I must stay chit chatting with him while I sort things out inside of me and find a way out of this hell of a pinch.

Scarface laughs lightly before voicing a reply.

"Don't give it too much thought, he had little choice."

So Scarface himself moved some strings on Yahiro, huh? I shouldn't be too surprised, now that I think about it; this madman seems to be very skilled at manipulating people. Judging from the arrogant tone he is using, I can tell he is also very confident in his own abilities... I should take note of this. If I see enough through his character, perhaps then I may be able to turn the tables on him.

"More importantly, I'll proceed with introductions, so I hope you'll forgive my rudeness for not having done so before. My name is Segai Waltz Makoto, and I serve as the acting Major for the Anti-Bodies' First Company."

Yay, he told me his name, I'm so excited.

"To be frank with you, Ouma-kun, I'll say I am surprised to have arrested you. I am aware of your relation with Dr. Ouma Haruka, one of our most prominent researchers, and so first of all I must ask if you were aware of what you were doing yesterday."

And he goes straight to the point. Ah, fuck this shit. I'm a terrible liar… what should I do? If I deny my involvement with the Parlor, he'll simply present facts to me indicating that I was in the firefight yesterday – he managed to arrest me, so he has to know about it somehow. Even if he does not have information about me in this moment, he will know I am in league with them once my blood analysis is completed, so I am screwed either way.

"Ouma-kun?"

Shhh, I'm trying to think.

"You were witnessed helping one of the terrorists involved in the firefight yesterday. Does the name Menjou Hare sound familiar to you?"

Ugh! You bastard, that's a low blow!

"She testified against you yesterday. Really, women are terrifying: if you lay your hands on their property, they get back at you in an instant. Does an incident regarding her school uniform ring any bells?"

THIS MAN IS A DEMON!

"Killing a man right in front of her was no good, either. You have much to explain both to her and me, Ouma-kun."

AGH, SHU! KEEP YOUR MIND STRAIGHT! HE IS PLAYING WITH YOUR HEAD!

To hell with him, he is lying! I can imagine Yahiro betraying me, but pairing Hare with the likes of him is unthinkable. The two of us have known each other and been close friends for years, so I can say I would not expect her to turn against me even after I caused her to be hospitalized the way she is.

Hey, hold on… what? There is an inconsistency here. Scarface heavily implied just now that he has talked with Hare, since he mentioned things only she should know such as my theft of her uniform. However, Yahiro told me she had not yet woken up after being injured, and so it would have been impossible for her to be testify against me if that had been the case.

Therefore, the discrepancy I have just found means that either Scarface or Yahiro fed me with bullshit, because since the former had been with the Anti-Bodies waiting for the train I was riding to stop, then he would have had no time to speak with Hare if she had woken up in the hospital while Yahiro was away.

Moreover, Scarface has stuck with me the whole time ever since, so if he has spoken with Hare then it must have been before Yahiro came into contact with me, when he claimed she was unconscious in the hospital.

This leads me to assume that Yahiro lied to me in saying that Hare was injured, since it is absolutely certain that Scarface did interrogate Hare because he knows about the incident with her uniform. And so, I can conclude that my old-time friend is safe and Yahiro merely used the story about her being hurt as a way to bait me into going with him.

Yes, this has to be the case, since there were no bullets fired by the subway station other than the one Inori used to kill the solider, which would make it very unlikely for her to get hurt after Inori and I rushed away with the stolen bike.

"What have you got to say, young boy?"

Scarface is pressing me after my long pause, so I have to answer by now. However, I'm a bit more composed that when I just got here, after having convinced myself that my friend is unscathed. Ah, at long last I've finally gained the much needed peace of mind I had been unable to get before. I'll play safe and try to get out of him as much information as I can before I decide on which approach I should take.

"I did not mean to involve other people in this."

Let's see how he reacts to me playing innocent… Perhaps if I beat around the bushes to know more about Scarface, I'll be able to find a way to outwit him.

"The woman you helped yesterday caused well over a hundred civilians to die. I believe you are aware of that by now, Ouma-kun."

Ugh… this bastard keeps throwing gut punches one after another. I know, damn it! I was involved in each and every one of their deaths, but he is also conveniently leaving out the fact that it was the Anti-Bodies who caused them all. Therefore, Scarface, I politely invite you to stick your words up your ass.

Or so I would like to say. Getting hostile with this guy will only prove to be counterproductive, so I'd better find a way to keep myself alive rather than speeding my own death. If I am reckless, chances are Sephirah will execute me for treason against GHQ even if I have the Void Genome inside of me.

But hey… wait a minute.

"I had no idea she was so dangerous."

I may just have an escape route available if I trick Scarface into giving it to me.

"You should have known ever since you saw my men's corpses inside your school."

Hoh, so they were under his command? He's got a point there, though. How will I reply?

"I panicked and ran away with her."

There, I'm making myself look like a wimp. I need Scarface to underestimate me.

"Yet you provided her with a disguise to elude capture. Why was that?"

Hmm… bastard. Ah, I know!

"I found her all bloodied in the floor, and she asked me for clean clothes. I thought she had been attacked by thugs, so I tried to help."

Scarface shouldn't know I heard the first firefight, when Inori stole the Void Genome. GHQ itself covered the news, so I supposedly had no way of knowing there were terrorists on the loose.

"Even though you knew there were terrorists on the loose?"

WHAT?! How did he even – AH, SHIT! I TEXTED HARUKA AND HE HAS ACCESS TO THE CHAT HISTORY! FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!

Damn it, I screwed up! Quick, an excuse!

"She… was very beautiful."

The blame lies on my libido; seems legitimate. Scarface laughs at my reply, like he should. This time I was actually honest with him, though, so he shouldn't be displeased.

"I told you, what women can do to men is truly terrifying."

I try my best not to smile with him. It sounds very stupid now that I look back on it, really. Ouma Shu stumbled upon a girl he liked and he leapt to the flames of hell with her. Though I have no regret for my decision, I must admit Scarface would be in the right in calling me a fool. This is very useful for me, though – I want him to see me as someone who is easily influenced by others.

"But that was a foolish thing to do, Ouma-kun; you should not judge a book by its cover."

Yeah, I knew it. So what's next, Scarface?

"I would like you to tell me in detail about what happened afterwards."

Well, this is catchy. How should I reply? He checked my text history with Haruka, so I can assume that he also got his hands on the disguised call I had with Gai. If I lie to him about it, he'll lose all trust in me and thus I'll be putting myself one step closer to the grave.

Therefore, I have to play honest and make him believe he is succeeding in manipulating my behavior. This guy has a thing for turning people against each other, so if I lead the conversation so that he would try to make me betray the Funeral Parlor, I can fool him into thinking he was successful in poisoning my mind.

"I talked with the girl and she told me the GHQ was dangerous. She said they intended to use the Apocalypse Virus to create a biological weapon, and explained to me that she had stolen a sample to develop a countermeasure against it."

Alright, I'm making it seem as if they had brainwashed me to help them. I'll keep up making some bullshit.

"I came into contact with a man via public phone, and he instructed me to meet him in the outskirts of the city. I was about to take the train when I ran into Hare, and the girl I was with killed the soldier who had detected us afterwards.

The girl stole a bike and had me drive it, saying she needed me to come along, and then a fierce gunfight broke out. After we left the tunnel, the terrorists told me to keep going to rendezvous with their leader.

Even now, I don't understand what happened next. I fell down the bike after going inside a building, and landed on top of the cylinder the girl said she had stolen. Something was injected into me, and I only remember very vaguely what I did afterwards. You'll call me crazy, but here were Endlaves being destroyed by someone with a sword. I think I saw a bright light, too… everything in my head is still blurry."

Scarface is quietly listening to my story, in which I have only changed a few details to make it seem as if I had been unknowingly drawn into a bigger conflict than I had imagined after having been injected with the Void Genome.

Hiding the secret is futile, since Sephirah will find out very soon about it anyway, so I have to make use of it now by feigning cooperativeness. The mechanic-eyed interrogator doesn't look like he doubts me, so things look good. I'll proceed to making him try turning me against the Funeral Parlor.

"At some point I fell unconscious, and woke up later on inside a room I had never seen before. The terrorists were there as well, and for a moment I thought I was going to die. They were furious at me, saying I had stolen the power they had acquired… they called it the Void Genome, or something around those lines.

They took a lot of blood from me after some suggested they should reclaim it by force, but a guy intervened and said it was impossible to retrieve after having been injected. I was locked for several hours, until the girl I had helped came to me and said she needed me to assist her again with something only I could do."

I'm a big damned liar.

"She said I would get to go back home if I helped them get a second sample, and so they asked me to spy on Haruka and ask her about her work."

Scarface's interest visibly rises after I mention Haruka, whom he can potentially use to persuade me to betray my comrades… or so he thinks.

"I… I didn't know what to do. They told me it was necessary, because GHQ was dangerous and they absolutely needed me to fight against them, saying that whomever I joined in the conflict would emerge victorious, but they were turning me against my mother! If – if this is Haruka's work, then I don't know what to believe anymore, I don't know which side I should take!"

I sound desperate in the end, like a lost child asking to be told the right direction. God damn it, will this even work? I took an insanely dangerous risk in revealing so much about what happened… if Scarface fails in taking the bait, I am done for.

Yet this bastard keeps me hanging, as he stays quiet while thinking about something. Come on, come on, come on and say something!

"Would you mind taking a walk with me? I'd like to show you something."

SUCCESS, MOTHERFUCKER!

Scarface invites me to leave the room. He might very well be trying to fool me to go straight into the execution chamber for having said what I said, but the way he said it was so friendly I can only think he is attempting to evoke the Stockholm Syndrome to make me think highly about the GHQ and then turn me against the Funeral Parlor.

I rise from my chair and follow Scarface, praying my plan worked. Normally, it would be extremely strange for a military organization to trust someone affiliated to an enemy faction, but I have something useful in store: my relation with Haruka.

Scarface seems to be fixated in making others do as he wants them to do. Given how my very own mother works with Sephirah, the manipulative bastard does have a realistic way of persuading me to betray my "newly found comrades". If he were to tell me GHQ is not as bad as the Funeral Parlor has made me believe, and then add that Haruka herself worked to make the Void Genome, it wouldn't be strange for me to heroically wield my family's legacy against the true villains who attempt to bring about anarchy and chaos.

Or so would Scarface want me to think. Regardless of Haruka having worked or not in making the Void Genome, Scarface could say it anyway to persuade me and I'd have no way of proving him wrong. He should also have ways of attempting to tarnish my view of the Funeral Parlor, so I'd better have my guard up against whatever he may have to say.

All this is assuming he isn't taking me to my death. This feeling of uncertainty is, of all things, thrilling. What will happen to me? Will my plan to become the Funeral Parlor's new mole work or will I just be killed off? Having death potentially lurking at every corner is a new experience for me, but for some reason I am taking it much more lightly than I thought I would.

A few days back, when I heard the firefight following Inori's theft of the Void Genome, I immediately started running away from the place. It was a stupid thing to do, now that I inspect my own past actions; I could have just taken refuge inside the building instead of running like a fool on the streets where the fight could have been headed to.

When did I change? Part of me believes the Power of the King is having a much higher impact on my being than I've yet noticed, but I think I had already begun to become very nonchalant about danger ever since I met Inori.

I remember that when she pointed a gun at me, I was still relatively calm. Just hours later, I got into a crazy motorized persecution, and then I sliced a number of Endlaves apart with, of all things, a sword.

Less than a day later I got captured by the enemy and am currently waiting to see if my improvised scheme for survival will work or not. Despite all of this, I feel… calm. Why? This is not normal. Something triggered a change inside of me in an entirely unnatural way, but I cannot tell if it was the event of meeting Yuzuriha Inori or being injected the Void Genome by her. Perhaps it was both… but I cannot see how the two are related.

"This is the reason why your friend betrayed you."

Oh. Getting so deep in thought is becoming a bad habit of mine; I didn't even notice when we left the building we were in before. Scarface and I are standing inside what I can tell to be a medical facility, since everything looks sterilized and the scent of medication is heavily impregnated in the air.

I turn to see where Scarface is pointing and see him: the traitorous bastard to set me up. Or so I'd like to call him, but I can't bring myself to do so anymore. Through the crystal before me, I can see Samukawa Yahiro a few floors below us standing beside a young boy lying asleep in a hospital bed.

What gets to me is the fact that said boy is plugged to numerous life support apparatuses and has most of his body's right half completely infested with the crystals characteristic of the Apocalypse Virus' advanced stages.

"That person is Samukawa Jun, your friend's younger brother. Both of them were orphaned during the Lost Christmas incident, and your friend Yahiro-kun has been taking care of this child ever since the vaccine stopped working on him."

Ah, shit. I had no idea. I can guess where this is heading to.

"Yahiro-kun became heavily indebted to continue his brother's treatment, so when I found he was acquainted to you I offered him a deal: I would lift his debt and insure his brother's medical needs for the rest of his life in exchange of assisting in your capture."

This bastard.

"Major, you are a cruel man."

I express my thoughts, seeing Scarface and I seem to have gained a small degree of mutual trust between us. He proves me right, not reacting adversely but rather shaking his head with an air of solemnity about him. He's a filthy liar, I can tell.

"I do what I must be done to ensure this country's safety."

Hey, I might get to live after all. As I had hoped, his speech begins!

"The Apocalypse Virus pandemic ten years ago, and the series of riots starting with lost Christmas sent this country into madness. Later on, we at GHQ developed a vaccine that enabled us to successfully pin down the Apocalypse outbreak and return the nation to a state of order."

Here it comes… here it comes…

"That's why I can't forgive the Funeral Parlor."

YES! IT WORKED! IT FUCKING, FUCKING WORKED!

"They're trying to ruin that order even now, as we're fighting to protect it."

It's becoming seriously difficult not to burst out laughing like a maniac to celebrate my scheme's success; I know what Scarface is going to say next:

"Ouma-kun, I just can't understand. Why would a clever boy like you want to trample on our good intentions?"

IN HIS FACE, I GOT HIM! I GOT HIM!

"They are an organization that holds a mass murderer in its ranks. Here, in the very building where I was interrogating you a while ago one of the shooters that participated in the firefight two days ago is imprisoned."

Right, as if I'd believe you.

"He opened fire at a group of innocent children, killing half a dozen of them and wounding nearly the same number. It is people like these that we simply cannot allow to be free doing as they please… that is the reason why fought so desperately to retrieve the Void genome to avoid having it fall into the wrong hands."

Alright, now is the time to reply. I look down, as if I deeply regretted my actions, and muster as much self-derision as I can to make Scarface think I really mean my words.

"I was naïve. I got myself involved with the Funeral Parlor before I realized what had happened. As you said yourself, female wiles are truly dangerous things… I was taken in entirely by her – by that woman."

I'm being an ass, putting Inori on the line like this, but Scarface already knows about her existence so I am not giving him any new information. Forgive me, my love, but I'm using you as a believable excuse to feed this bastard before me. I'll make it back alive and apologize properly, Inori, but right now I have no other choice.

Scarface smiles at my reply, apparently believing it.

"It is fortunate that you are now in our hands, then. The Funeral Parlor is not what you believe them to be. They have told you terrible lies about our investigation regarding the Apocalypse Virus; I assure you everything we do is to provide humanity a better future."

I, on the other hand, become serious as I take on where he left off.

"But what have you got to say about the Void Genome? Before I knew it, I became a freak. I fell off the bike with the girl at my back, ended up having a syringe stuck on my neck, and now these guys are saying I am the most important piece in their conflict."

Ah, I am a big damned liar as well. Go on, Scarface, keep eating my crap. Answering to my wishes, he becomes grim as well, locking both his natural and his artificial eye at mine.

"We must talk about that seriously, but not in here. Let us head back to the other room."

And off we go, uncomfortably silent for most of the way. We exit the medical facility and board a transport vehicle that drives us back to the building I was previously in. Hell, I didn't even notice I had ridden this thing a while ago; I must've been really lost in my own personal world.

We arrive again to the small interrogation room and take our respective places once more.

"What did they tell you about the Void Genome?"

Straight to the point.

"They said it is a military technology GHQ is developing… it lets its user draw Voids, as they call them. What are those things? I took out one, but never knew what it was."

Scarface shakes his head as he is deep in thought, closing his eyes while doing so.

"I cannot answer that, for I do not know myself. What I can tell you is that you were given false information: the Void Genome is meant to work as humanity's ultimate tool for technological development, not as a weapon like they claim."

I'd be a fool if I just accepted that easily, so I'll resist.

"How can you say that, after seeing how I laid waste even to a group of Endlaves?"

For the first time, Scarface sighs.

"You'll have to believe in the Doctor for that."

Ha! I knew it!

"Which doctor?"

I play the fool intentionally to make him say it.

"Ouma Haruka, your mother… she actively participated in the Genome's development."

So close… so close…

"What do you mean?"

This will be music for my ears.

"Your family's legacy is currently running through your veins, Ouma Shu."

HE EVEN USED THE SAME WORDS! AHHHH SCARFACE, YOU ARE DONE FOR!

I bury my face on my hands to hide the sinister smile my interrogator would otherwise notice. I appear to be shocked, and Scarface seems to be still taking my crap. He is too confident in his skills of turning others against each other.

What he doesn't know is that my bonds with Tsutsugami Gai and Yuzuriha Inori run just as deep as those with Haruka, so I will immediately take my mother and make way back to the Funeral Parlor's when I get the chance to do so.

"Major Segai… would it be too much if I… asked to join your ranks? I want to make Haruka proud of her work… I can't let her down after hearing all you have told me."

I'm one step away, come on – take it! TAKE IT!

Scarface gets up and retrieves his phone from his pocket. Quickly, he dials to a number unknown to me and says the following words:

"Find me a lawyer for Ouma Shu; he has more use for us outside a prison cell."

Good Lord, how did it come to this?

HOW DID IT COME TO THIS?

I can't believe I pulled it off. After staying in the phone for a few minutes, Scarface proceeds to take my handcuffs off and guides me to another room with a crystal screen dividing it in half where I'm supposed to meet my lawyer. Scarface then goes off to fill some paperwork and I'm left in the room with only a single guard keeping vigil on me.

Less than an hour passes before the door on the other side of the glass opens and a man enters accompanied by a guard. I couldn't care any less about them, feeling splendid about my scheme's success, so I don't pay much attention to their arrival.

The man is given a chair and he sits down in front of me, but I don't even look at him since I'm still too busy sorting out what I'll do once I am "officially enlisted" to the GHQ; I have to think of a way to pass the number of loyalty tests Scarface mentioned I'll be subjected to before being allowed to join them, after all.

I somehow managed to convince the guy to believe me, so things should go smoothly from then on… the biggest problem will be dealing with Haruka when comes to see me. How will I explain everything to her? I'll have to lie to her…

"Yo, Shu-kun."

**IT CANNOT BE!**

"I took your mother's request to be your lawyer… I'm Mason."

The voice calling to me from the other side of the screen brings me back to reality at once, and I nearly fail to keep my jaw from dropping down straight to the floor. For the life of me, I cannot explain how, but the one speaking is none other than Tsutsugami Gai disguised in a business suit, claiming to be my lawyer.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Unbound

"You don't need to worry about a thing, we'll get started immediately."

Mother of Jesus, how did he even get in here? Hell, this cannot be him… I must have sustained brain damage from Ayase's glass after all. It is impossible for the leader of the Funeral Parlor to be here in front of me, apparently brought in by the very people who are supposed to be turning me against him.

"This place is really strict on time, so we have to hurry."

Yet here he is, smiling earnestly as he gives a thick pile of papers to the GHQ guard who accompanied him. I can guess he isn't having a hard time faking his good mood as the soldier walks away… this reckless bastard must be laughing his ass off inside his head.

Wait, what? That sound just now was the door from my side closing behind me! Judging from the footsteps fading away, I assume the guard tasked with keeping an eye on me has just left as well… but why would GHQ do a thing such as leaving me alone with him?

Ah, I get it. Gai is winking at me from the other half of the room, hinting it was somehow his doing. He is sick, I'm telling you, sick! The son of a bitch has infiltrated this place twice already, and he is familiarized enough with the building's layout to know that the security camera recording us is positioned right behind him and thus is blind to his facial gestures.

Hey, now that I think about it, he has also mobilized armed forces inside Tokyo a couple of times as well – even going as far as sneaking Ayase's Endlave among them. How does he even do that? Despite my contempt for the Anti-Bodies, I do not think they're incompetent enough to be fooled by an amateur when they have Scarface in their ranks.

Today more than ever before, I believe that my friend is a certified badass.

"I wonder if it's safe to speak already."

No way! He can't be in contact with Tsugumi even inside here, can he?

"All right. Everyone, get on standby."

Holy Lord, he switched his tone from Mason to Tsutsugami 'Steel Balls' Gai in an instant.

"You're looking good."

And now he relaxes his posture and lets his hair long loose while he addresses me with sarcasm. Ah, damn it… I admit I deserve a sermon from him.

"Did you bring pasta this time?"

Yet I still crack a joke at him, hoping to lighten the mood. And lighten the mood I do, seeing how my friend is forced to suppress his laughter in a failed attempt to stay in sermon mode. He regains his composure quickly, but is still smiling at me as he speaks.

"Ayase says she is not amused."

Ugh! Who'd have imagined it, Scarface was right… just thinking of Ayase's wrath is enough to give me the shivers. Gai seems to be having his share of fun watching me cower in fear, though... he must be mad at me as well, and rightfully so.

"I know; I fucked up. I'll let her get back at me if she wants to, but for the love of God please unplug her from her Endlave before she does."

I remember having seen another craft for her to drive among the vehicles back in the Parlor's headquarters, so if Gai is mentioning her it means she is piloting it right now, which in turn indicates that shit will get serious in no time. Therefore, I'd better calm her down a little before we meet, or else she might kill me before Scarface does.

"Tsugumi wants a piece of you, too."

Ugh… my heart. Don't mention her, please – I still feel like shit after what happened with my discovery about Funell's birth. But man, is he serious?

"Did she say that?"

I ask, to make sure, and Gai laughs at me in return.

"No, but I've got a hunch."

Fucker.

"Back to business, Shu, we're getting you out of here."

Ah, right, I'm still in enemy hands… Gai's sudden arrival made me forget.

"Before that, I must ask… how did you get here?"

My curiosity still gets the best of me, despite the fact we have no idea of when the guards will return to watch over us. Gai smiles in a way I've never seen him before, however, making me think my eyes must be going bad, for they tell me that his expression is one of nostalgia. Why would he look like that?

"You have a wonderful mother, Shu."

WHAT?!

"Wait, you don't mean that - !"

"What I said about her requesting my assistance was for real."

My mind is full of fuck. I won't ask questions anymore.

"She is safe now; you don't need to worry about her. I'll tell you everything once we get you out… we're short on time."

Gai catches wind of my mental state and changes the subject to more pressing matters. Good, this is better… I must think of something else.

"I'm all ears, then. What's the plan?"

I ask my commander for the mission briefing – I need to know our course of action. He is quick to proceed, drawing closer to me.

"If we are careful, we might get you out of here without firing a single bullet. Just stick to the plan and – "

Um… this is bad. He suddenly halts midsentence and his expression immediately turns dark, making me know that Plan A has just gone to hell.

"Tsugumi, are you certain of this?"

He sounds agitated – something I had never seen him do before. I stand there in silence, still waiting to be told what to do: I'm still handcuffed, so I have little room for taking independent action. God damn it, I'm completely helpless even though Gai is right here with me in the very same room.

"Inori, wait! Don't – "

Ah, shit, not her! That girl is drastic in her actions, there's no telling what she'll –

"SHU, DRAW YOUR VOID NOW!"

Gai screams his orders at me to emphasize how urgently we must get going. As I reach for my chest with my bound hands, he hastily takes his suit's jacket off and grasps the chair he was sitting on. At the same time I grasp the core of my own soul, Gai jumps back to a corner and envelops both the chair and himself with his jacket to take cover behind them.

As soon as I pull on my Void I understand why he was so desperate in protecting himself. The same way it happened with Inori and Kyo's Voids, a massive surge of light emerges from me. Unlike how it went with them, however, the power I release lashes out in all directions and utterly wrecks the entire room.

Pieces of glass and debris are sent flying everywhere – even the door behind me was blasted away by the impact, and needless to say, the handcuffs I had on me have banished from existence. I rush towards Gai's direction to confirm he is safe – and luckily so, since parts of the floors above us commence falling where I was standing just a moment ago.

"Holy shit, Gai! Are you alright?"

I crouch before him and take the ruined chair he was protecting himself with away from his grasp. Gai gets up quickly, miraculously unscathed. The metallic furniture, despite having been completely destroyed, somehow succeeded in shielding him from the impact and so did his glass-incrusted jacket in keeping the crystal shards away from him.

Hell, he made it only because he was the farthest away from me he could – had he stood even a meter closer, he'd have been instantly killed. I grab his shoulders and help him up, which makes me realize something about me has undergone extreme changes.

Gai was as light as a feather, or so did it feel like. I look at my hands searching for the Void I took out, and realize that my hands themselves are the ones that have transformed into something else. Or rather, it is their composition that is different – they both of them seem to be made out of pure green emerald.

"Start the operation immediately; Ayase's team is to rendezvous with Shu and me while Ogumo's provides as much cover for Inori as they can."

I'm opening and closing my fists to test my upper limbs' flexibility as Gai gives orders to his forces. Part of me is surprised in seeing that both my arms are affected by the transformation all the way up to the shoulders but still move normally, while the remainder of my consciousness attempts to listen to Gai.

"Shibungi, you are to join Ogumo in the fray; Inori must be kept alive at all costs! Spare no resources or efforts to save her, I repeat, her survival is imperative to win the war!"

God damn it, Inori! Agh, why is her sense of danger so broken? I can't believe this!

"Take my Void out, we have no time."

Gai turns to me and orders me to materialize his spirit. Not losing any time, I immediately do as he says, and something extremely unusual happens. The light characteristic of Voids being drawn gushes around us and messes the room even further, but the feeling of holding it in my hands is entirely different from the two Voids I've held before.

At first sight it seems like a high-end submachine gun, but for some reason I feel as if I could dematerialize it and, macabre as it may sound, store it inside of me. Gai doesn't let me test if doing such a thing is possible or not, though, as he quickly grabs his Void from my stone-hard hands.

I let go, allowing him to take it and waiting for further orders, but before he can even open his mouth, a guard enters the room from behind of him. Gai immediately turns and opens fire at the guard, utterly obliterating him with his Void's absurd firepower. Similarly, I can hear footsteps rushing behind of me.

I follow my comrade's example and turn throwing a punch in the now-inexistent door's direction, from where a second soldier was closing in on us. Even though we are far from each other and thus my hit does not land, a blast of transparent force strong enough to visibly distort space itself shoots from my fist and – fuck!

The bloody spectacle before me is nasty enough to make me avert my eyes immediately. Fucking shit, dude… he exploded. Literally. I just burst a man to pieces, and the gore of his remains is splattered against what's left of the wall behind him.

Ugh! I feel ill… I killed him. I more than killed him – his bone and flesh were pulverized to such a degree that it is hard to recognize he was even human before. Even Gai seems shocked after witnessing my Void's destructive power, and – bleugh!

Agh… blugh… damn it… I'm puking. Gai is opening fire again at something I can't even see from down here on the floor, most likely other people, which doesn't help in making me feel any better.

"Shu, get a hold of yourself! We must leave!"

Easier said than done, bastard! I had seen people dying around me before, but annihilating a living being to make it deader than dead is a first to me!

Gai grabs my rocky hand and forces me to follow him. God damn it! I'm not a soldier like he is; I still can't handle killing others as coldly as he does. But here I am, in the middle of what has suddenly become a full-scale battlefield with the roaring sound of bullets being fired everywhere and explosions going off with all their might.

As we crouch and run through an open corridor while taking cover with its edge's wall, we stumble directly into a trio of soldiers taking a turn towards our direction. I don't know how – surely because of my Void's influence – I react faster than they do and strike with my fists again. The result is the same as with the man I killed in the other room, but made bloodier threefold. Their shapeless corpses are blasted away as their blood and organs are splattered everywhere throughout the floor, walls and ceiling before us.

I halt my advance and lean against the corridor's thick border for support as I begin feeling nauseous again, but Gai reaches for me and forces me to keep going before I vomit.

"This is combat's true nature, Shu! You can suffer from shell shock all you want once we're out of here; right now you have no choice but to keep yourself in one piece!"

I know he is right, but maintaining my psyche intact after witnessing the horrible aftermath of my actions is no walk in the park. During the fight when I was given the Void Genome, I wielded Inori's sword only to tear Endlaves down; here I am killing people literally with my own two hands.

"Shu, listen to me! Inori charged alone and even now is in much more danger than we are. If you hesitate and we don't make it to her in time, she will be killed!"

His words hit me like a hammer, and swiftly make my resolve stop wavering - the mere thought of having Inori die because I was captured and she attempted to save me is unbearable. My recklessness is what brought about this situation, and so I must take responsibility of my mistakes.

Even now, I feel no malice towards the men fighting against me; I understand they also have their own homes they want to return to rather than dying in foreign soil. Despite being in opposite sides of an armed conflict, I still value each of their lives.

However, the fact that they are pointing their guns at the woman I love is enough to make me stain my hands as much I need to protect her. Therefore, I will hold down all of my mercy and fight without truce.

Gai suddenly stops running just as I steel my resolve to fight, taking me aback.

"What's wrong?"

I ask, fearing something has happened to Inori.

"We're in position, Ayase; prepare to enter the building."

His answer isn't directed to me, which takes some worry off my shoulders. We are in a fairly spacious area inside the structure, so it makes sense Gai would want Ayase's Endlave meeting with us here.

"Shu, break that wall."

Heh… I feel like if I were siege equipment, seeing how Gai points at the solid stone before us and confidently states his order. I comply, running towards it to then punch it with my Void's full power.

The wall is breached by the force's impact, sending its chunks of debris into the air; some of them bounce off Ayase's cloaked craft waiting for us in the spiraling road surrounding the building. Who'd have thought a war vehicle would enter right through an opening made from the inside by a teenage battering ram? The GHQ must've not seen it coming.

Ayase is quick to move in front of us to provide us with cover from the bullets still being shot inside the Headquarters, and while she is doing so I sneak a peek to see what's going on outside. What I see there is nothing but madness – there are over a dozen vehicles of the Funeral Parlor fighting against the Anti-Bodies in their very own home turf, engaging only in vehicular combat to avoid being shred to pieces by the alarmingly increasing number of Endlaves being deployed against them.

Gai's forces have no means of fighting back other than firing with personal rocket launchers at their pursuers while filling the entire place with smoke bombs to hamper their field of vision.

There is no way in hell Gai's men will hold out against the Anti-Bodies' overwhelming forces for long, since the number of infantry, trucks and Endlaves joining the fight is steadily growing while the Parlor's numbers and ammunition can only diminish.

If the fight is happening outside, however, why are there gunshots inside the building?

"What did you do to Inori?"

Ah, God damn it. Ayase's voice coming from the Endlave's speaker gives me an answer through my question.

"Is she the one fighting inside?"

I ask to confirm, and Gai nods in Ayase's stead. The Endlave's hull suddenly opens before he elaborates, and a small girl I have become somewhat familiar with emerges from it.

"She infiltrated the building together with Argo; they were supposed to rescue one of our comrades being held captive in the prison underground."

Kyo explains part of the situation as Ayase makes the Endlave kneel for her to safely jump down to the ground where Gai and I stand. The walker's speaker sounds again, meaning Ayase is taking on the conversation.

"Yet she disobeyed Gai's orders and split ways with Argo to get to you."

Kyo quickly comes to my side and hands me a communication transmitter like the one I was given back then inside the tunnel. I attach it to one of my ears, and then ask the question that has been bothering me.

"Why would she do that, knowing Gai was already with me?"

It is Gai himself who explains this time.

"Tsugumi caught word that Keido Shuichiro rejected Segai's plea to recruit you. He intended to have you executed without facing trial."

What the fuck!? Keido Shuichiro is Haruka's brother! My own uncle ordered my death? Hell, I knew he was in Sephirah's upper echelon, but having his own nephew killed without so much as looking for an alternative is bullshit!

"Man, I'm claiming his head."

I'm pissed off now, and I make it show.

"Hold your horses, Shu; that will have to wait. Take my Void out for now; we must buy Argo some time while he liberates Kenji."

Kyo intervenes as she brings my hand to her chest without even asking why both my upper limbs are made out of stone instead of flesh now. But uh… this is weird. I can feel my palm resting against the ironing board Kyo calls bust, but her Void isn't coming out.

"Look at her eyes."

Oh, so that matters? I follow Gai's advice and, surprisingly, it works: the bright light of a soul being drawn emerges from her in an instant, and her shield-shaped Void materializes in my hands easily.

Now that I see her directly, I realize Kyo is blushing awkwardly.

"Pervert."

Ayase loses no time to say her favorite word. Just so you know, Aya-nee, it was Kyo herself who put my hand where it was… I am not to blame this time: I stayed there just touching her because I ignored eye contact was necessary.

"Let's get moving."

Gai brings us back to our senses, making Kyo and me to follow his lead while Ayase parts ways with us. She heads in the opposite direction, wreaking havoc with her vehicle and thus attracting the enemy aggro to her instead of us and, perhaps, also away from Inori somewhere inside the building.

"I have secured Kenji."

Argo's voice speaks through the transmitter. He is insane… I can't believe he broke through this place's security alone. I'm guessing all the attention Inori attracted made it easier for him to sneak around.

"Good. Rendezvous with us in the first floor; we will be waiting for you there."

Gai tells him where we'll meet. Kyo, he and I increase our running pace as we see a stairway in the distance. We stick close to the wall and Kyo deploys a defensive field drawn from her Void to defend our flank while Gai keeps firing at those who approach us.

A number of Endlaves has been deployed inside already, and are currently engaging Ayase in the distance, but can do naught but look at her fight them off. The resistance we encounter steadily grows stronger; it is only because of the protective aura emanating from Kyo's shield that we have not been killed yet.

Since she is holding her Void in front of us and Gai is shooting from behind my shoulder, I find myself only able to wish my comrades good luck as I press forward with them. The firepower aimed at us is too intense now, and raising the shield even a moment for me to attack would be a potential invitation for lethal injuries.

The sound of bullets bouncing off the barrier protecting us is deafening, and its repetition is frequent enough to make it seem as if we were under a storm of metallic hail. We persevere through it all and eventually force our way to the stairs, where a large detachment of infantry is entrenched and ready to fight us.

They open fire at us immediately, but Kyo hastily takes something from her pocket belt and throws it at them in return, which then explodes furiously and kills the majority of the soldiers. It was a grenade, I presume, and so I must take mental note that grenades are damned dangerous weapons.

We reach the stairs, and Gai executes the wounded soldiers who survived the blast as we pass by. Despite their attempts to fight back, Kyo skillfully blocks their gunshots with her shield while her commander delivers the coup de grâce.

Once again, I am reminded of how dreadfully powerful Voids are – armed with only three of them, my allies and I have already killed well past two dozen soldiers despite being outnumbered and surrounded in their own territory. Now I understand just why Gai came to rescue me… even if we had not been friends, he'd have done so anyway just to get his hands on the undisputed ultimate weaponry I have access to.

It was his obligation as the Funeral Parlor's leader to secure the Power of the King, and for that reason so many of his soldiers are putting their lives at risk for me this night. Therefore, I'll answer in kind for their efforts.

My resolve is as solid as my arms now that we arrive to the headquarters' first floor, where at least a whole platoon of Anti-Bodies is waiting for us. Kyo plants her shield before us and takes all of the fire, but footsteps quickly approach behind us from above the stairs as she does.

This is very bad. From what I have observed of Kyo's shield, I can tell she can only defend a 180° angle. We made it alright before due to the walls preventing the Anti-Bodies from surrounding us, but now we're caught in an attack from two opposite fronts. There is no way Kyo will manage to defend us this time.

Gai takes notice of our situation as well and rushes to shoot at the soldiers approaching from above while Kyo's Void absorbs the fire coming from our front, but my judgment tells me my friend will fail in keeping the enemy at bay this time.

The footsteps are too many and too close to us. Having not much choice, I take Gai's leg and pull him off the stairs. He seems surprised, as he just barely manages to soften his fall, but I had no time to wait for him. I unleash my Void's force against the upper floor again and again, making stone and steel fly about chaotically.

The debris threatens to fall on us, but I keep punching to the air with all my might, making the blasts of energy blow everything towards the troops in front of us instead of letting it land upon our heads.

Neither of the two enemy units seems to have expected that, as their screams of horror fill the area in a matter of seconds. The platoon in the first floor stops shooting, and the squad coming from above is now dead, as far as I can tell, after having been crushed to smithereens together with a good chunk of the building.

Unfortunately, my actions are counterproductive; the Endlaves Ayase was keeping busy have now deemed me as a more dangerous threat than she is, and are now quickly moving to our direction.

I don't know if Kyo's Void can take it against those. Perhaps it can deal against their bullets and missiles, but if they get us in close combat we are done for. Fuck, this is bad. They're firing at us, keeping us pinned in position. We cannot run, and there is no upper floor for us to retreat to either because I just destroyed it.

"Gai, I'm here!"

Talk about bad timing, Argo. He reports to us via the transmitters, but we really aren't in a good shape to help him out.

One of the Endlaves is about to reach us for melee, and so I prepare myself to strike back at it with all I have. Chances are I'll get a hole punched into me by one of its bullets, since it hasn't stopped firing at all, but I have no choice other than taking the risk.

Or so I thought. A rocket hits the Endlave square in its head, taking it off-balance and making it fall down before it reaches us. Argo has just taken a level in badass, having saved us from the impending doom with a well-placed RPG… he somehow turned into our reinforcements rather than our target to defend.

JESUS! He throws a number of smoke grenades – I can't tell if three or four – and he runs right through the newly formed blind spot in the Endlave's field of vision. The walkers haven't stopped firing yet, but he braves the inferno anyway. Kyo and Gai don't let him take his chances, however, as both press me forward to regroup with him.

He is one lucky motherfucker, as Ayase rejoins the fight and saves our asses from a second Endlave about to squash us like insects. She attacks it with her full fury and utterly wrecks it with a succession of melee strikes, making me pray to God Almighty she'll never get mad enough at me to do the same.

As I am promising inside my head I'll be a good boy, Argo and a traumatized-looking young guy I hadn't seen before take cover behind Kyo's Void. I must assume he is the one Argo was tasked with rescuing. Kenji, was it? Wait – he is not the guy Scarface mentioned, is he? The one that shot the little kids… I thought he was just making things up, but seeing how this guy seems to be out of his mind, I'm beginning to doubt it was all just a lie.

"How is he, Argo?"

Gai asks about the guy's condition.

"Not good; he was tortured quite badly."

I can see that; he looks fucked up.

"Gai! I can't hold them any longer!"

FUCK! That was Inori's voice just now, speaking in anguish through the transmitter!

"You fool! Where are you? We'll go to you immediately!"

Gai himself sounds desperate as well, urging her to tell him her whereabouts.

"In the roof; I'm pinned."

I look up and see the starry sky far above us. Just until now did I realize this place has an open roof, but knowing that is useless right now- this place is fucking huge, and thus Inori is well over a hundred stories higher than we are; we have no way of reaching her on time.

Fucking shit, what are we supposed to do!? We've made it this far and have even regrouped with Argo and Kenji, but if Inori dies, then what would it have all been for?

"We are right beneath you, Inori… you have to jump."

I think I heard Gai wrong.

"Gai?"

Even Inori is questioning him.

"We have Kenji with us, so Shu will save you. Believe in him."

Holy God, he is serious.

I can hear gunshots ringing from above, meaning Inori is under fire even now. She takes a moment before answering with a question.

"Is Shu hearing this?"

Fuck… I don't like where this is heading to. The tone in her voice makes it seem as if she were preparing herself to say farewell. I suppress my fears and force myself to answer, not letting them hold me back.

"Yes, I'm right here."

The next few seconds feel eternal. I hear Inori draw breath from the other side of the line, and then she utters three words alone.

"I love you."

She jumps.

I react immediately – I grab Kenji and stare directly into his eyes as I place my hand on his chest, forcing his Void to emerge as fast as I can make it go. It is out in an instant, and despite the fact I have just made contact with it, I already know its function: this Void can annul the pull of gravity.

Kyo throws her Void at me as I run forward, which I catch moments after firing at myself with Kenji's gun-shaped Void. I dematerialize Kenji's Void and store it inside of me, like I had felt it was possible to do with Gai's, so I now have a free hand that I use to strike against the ground beneath me.

The force exerted by my Void impulses me upward with tremendous speed towards Inori. A full squad of Anti-Bodies fires at me from below, but my senses right now are on fire due to seeing Inori falling from such altitude, enabling me to react in time to deploy Kyo's defensive barrier beneath me.

I bring Kenji's Void back to existence and shoot at the girl falling towards me. Gravity stops pulling her down, but she still has the momentum she had acquired on the few seconds of free fall. I have to catch her to stop the fall, or else she will splat against the floor below anyway.

We make eye contact, and it dawns on my mind that she is smiling at me. Visibly exhausted and covered in wounds, Yuzuriha Inori is happy from the bottom of her heart to be seeing me again.

I reach out to her, ready to extract her Void to end the fight once and for all, but… I won't make it. From the corner of my eye, I can see a sniper aiming at me from an angle I can't cover with Kyo's shield. If I move it from beneath me, the bullets being fired from below will end my life in an instant. All I can do is helplessly watch as he aims for my head, ready to pull the trigger before I reach the girl I have to save.

My pupils dilate from the sight occurring before me, and my lungs release all the air contained within them. Behind the soldier mere fractions of a second away from killing me appears none other than Scarface, pointing a gun at the man's head.

"Please, do not interfere."

His words finish me off. I cannot believe it, and for a moment I am convinced that I misunderstood them because of the distance – there is no way my heightened senses would have caught what I thought I heard. But his actions prove otherwise.

The echo of a single bullet being shot rings in my eardrums as I witness Scarface killing his own subordinate to allow my survival. As the man drops dead to the ground, I come into contact with Inori to stop her fall and quickly fix my eyes back on hers. My hand is already in her soft chest, and a massive column of light erupts around us all the way into the sky.

Everyone in the vicinity must have been blinded by its radiance.

Powerful threads of silver swirl around us majestically as Segai Waltz Makoto repeatedly screams the same words from the depths of his lungs:

"BEAUTIFUL! THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!"

Inori wraps her arms around me as beautifully as Scarface makes it sound. I answer in kind, and the two of us remain there in silence. Nobody is firing at us anymore; the spectacle before them is too grand for anyone to interrupt.

"Shu… can I believe in you?"

Inori softly asks a question to my ear.

I give the sincerest of all smiles I have ever had as I reply.

"I love you too, Inori… Of course you can."

She embraces me dearly, encouraging me to take my words to action.

A circle of blue light forms above me as I rotate to face directly to the ground. I use the circle as a platform to impulse myself downwards, straight to the still-frozen battlefield.

The Endlaves quickly react to me and fire their missiles all-out at us, but by this point they have already lost their chance of killing Inori and me – Scarface gave this battle's victory to the Funeral Parlor with his own hand.

I skid and dodge using the circles of light, cutting my way through the missiles in a sea of fire and explosions. Inori's Void alone is enough to defend us both - having no further need for it, I even stored Kyo's shield inside of me to have an arm entirely dedicated for my girl while I use the other to rip the Endlaves apart.

The remaining Anti-Bodies scatter in horror and flee, unwilling to fight against the monstrosity of a weapon they had just witnessed being drawn. I spare the infantrymen, seeing there is no need to end their lives, but continue unleashing the wrath of Inori's sword on the fleeing Endlaves.

One after another, every single of the war machines is destroyed beyond recognition by my relentless attack as I swiftly move through the air, not stopping at anything before me.

We are regrouped with Gai and the rest in a matter of minutes, having entirely turned the tide of battle simply by being reunited with Inori, and Gai gives the order for the rest of his forces to retreat; a task made easy by the Anti-Bodies' utterly broken morale.

After running outside at a brisk pace, Shibungi picks us up in one of the Anti-Bodies' very own transports and drives away from the fire-scorched battlefield where Inori and I confessed to each other.

The two of us sit together with our comrades, finally having a moment's rest while Shibungi drives towards the rising sun. Both of us made it alive, despite the terrible odds against us, and even went as far as firmly establishing our relationship in the midst of battle. By all means, this was a night I will never forget.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Making Amends

I gently run my hand through Inori's hair, caressing her sleeping face upon my lap. Though I am sleepy as hell myself after last night's battle, I am not in a good position to get some rest just yet. After all, I am sitting in a couch inside the Funeral Parlor's medical quarters, where Inori was treated after sustaining numerous injuries in combat.

It was a miracle that she didn't get hit by any bullets and got through the fight with only cuts, bruises and a flesh wound from a grenade's shrapnel in her formerly healthy arm. She lost a lot of blood once more, though, so Tsugumi transfused a pint Kyo donated for Inori's use while Shibungi stitched her wounds closed again.

Seeing how much damage she has taken over the course of three days, I am seriously starting to wonder how many times Inori has been treated like this in her lifetime. There aren't any scars in her skin for me to count, since regenerative ointments to erase them have been in the market for a few years, so I can only ask her or Gai to ease my curiosity.

However, the way she was cooperating with Shibungi to facilitate her treatment made it seem like she is already used to being in this part of the headquarters. Even after the transfusion was done and her injuries wrapped in bandages, she calmly walked to me as I waited for her in this very couch and promptly laid to sleep with my legs as her pillows.

Normally, I'd have taken her to her room so she'd have a proper bed, but Kyo and I are still waiting for Gai and Argo to get done with Kido Kenji's treatment. As far as I know, he has been unconscious ever since I extracted his Void.

I quickly gave it back to him… or rather, to his chest after we got into the stolen GHQ's transport a few hours ago, but he still showed no signs of waking up. As soon as we got here, he was rushed to the emergency room by the pair currently treating him and neither of them has come out for the last couple of hours.

Tsugumi and Shibungi went to help Ogumo with the rest of the wounded immediately after treating Inori, so I am left to assume that these five are the most versed in medicine in the Funeral Parlor.

"She grew fond of you really fast, Shu."

The young girl sitting on a second couch beside me breaks the ice. Kyo looks at the sleeping Inori and me with a smile, giving me the impression she likes seeing us together.

"The same goes for me to her, actually. We haven't known each other for even three days."

I admit the reality about us. Now that I think about it, it feels as if we were Romeo and Juliet… a seventy-two-hours relationship that lead to six deaths. The only difference is we have caused a few hundred people to die instead of only a measly six, and thus we dwarf the old tragedy by a large margin.

"You are like Romeo and Juliet."

Kyo speaks the very thing that had crossed my mind. How do they do this? It has happened fairly often; the people here in the Funeral Parlor always say the things I am thinking, as if we had a very similar mindset.

"Really?"

I want to test if Kyo really thinks the way I do.

"Yeah, but with a hundred times more deaths."

And she replies exactly the way I thought she would. Gai, Inori and Argo have all spoken my mind at one point or another. Hell, even Scarface used the same words I had thought he'd say if he attempted to persuade me into joining his side. Something about this makes me suspect it is unnatural… people see into my mind much more easily than they should.

I'll ask Gai about that later; it's really getting into my nerves. For now, I'll talk with Kyo.

"Take that, Shakespeare!"

Judging our seemingly natural affinity, I believe my young comrade will not take offense in my black humor. True to my expectations, Kyo giggles in amusement.

"You have a darker mind than I thought, Shu."

I lay my back against the couch's backrest, smiling in self-derision.

"You aren't any better yourself, are you?"

Ouma Shu points out the obvious.

"Of course I'm not. Everyone here is a killer, after all. There is no member of the Funeral Parlor who has not stained his or her hands in blood."

Kyo says ominous things as she keeps her smile up, making me understand I had severely misjudged her character the day I met her. She looked optimistic and lively to me, and still continues to seem that way even now, but the thought of seeing her speaking so matter-of-factly about the implications of being a soldier had never crossed my mind.

"You take your reality very well, though."

I speak my thoughts honestly, wondering what she'll say.

"It is the best we can do. Lying to ourselves and saying what we do isn't wrong would corrupt us. Being a soldier means killing other people, and there is nothing in this world that can justify our sins."

She is telling me she bears with the responsibility of her actions.

"Yet you don't sound remorseful at all."

I continue exploring her way of seeing herself and the circumstances she lives in.

"Because I am not, really, and neither of us should be. Experience has taught me that life is always beset with conflict, and the only way for us to make it alive is to keep fighting for what we believe is best.

Most of the time, we fight against other soldiers who are aware that their lives are in danger – the very nature of their business goes hand in hand with death itself.

In other times, we involve innocent people the way we did when you saved Inori. What do you think we do when such things happen, Shu?"

She turns the tables on me, making me think about the weight of my own actions. What has been done cannot be changed, and thus all that is left in my power is the decision of how to deal with the results.

I stay quiet to think for a while, and Kyo is sensible enough to give me the time I need.

After thinking carefully, I reply.

"You keep fighting anyway. Saving everyone is impossible, and there are times when we will cause tragedies. But even then, we cannot afford to stop, because we have things we believe to be worth fighting for.

If I were to go back in time to the day when I met Inori, I'd choose to save her all over again despite knowing that my choice would kill hundreds. Inori's life is precious to me, and I wish to protect her even if I become a selfish sinner in doing so."

Kyo gets up to approach me, and then uh… she pets my head, smiling in approval.

"Then you are worthy of being Inori's partner, Shu. The fact that the two of you have just met is unimportant if you are ready to throw the world away for each other. That's what she did last night by choosing you over her loyalty for Gai, and you have just done the same by saying you don't regret saving her."

I break eye contact with Kyo, shied away by her words.

"I'm not as reliable as you think."

She messes my hair more fervently in response to my comment.

"Don't say that; the most reliable comrade is the one who knows when and how to be an egoist. Understanding you cannot make everyone happy and coming to accept it as the harsh truth makes you way more useful than a dreamy idealist."

Hell, what Kyo says hits hard, but I cannot bring myself to deny it.

"And by the way, I think the two of you are meant to last, unlike Romeo and Juliet."

Heh, I know this isn't the time for this, but her comment makes me blush. It's pathetic, really, how anything related to romance with Inori puts my manliness at stake. At least Kyo removed her hand from my head, allowing me to retain some of my dignity.

"Why do you say so?"

I ask, out of curiosity. Given how Kyo has everything already clear and sorted out in her head, I can expect her answer to be quite meaningful.

"The strongest bonds between two people are born in the battlefield. Liking someone despite knowing she would put you in danger shows more than any words possibly could. You have been fighting for each other since the moment you met, and so I know that nothing will ever set you apart."

I can do nothing but agree to what she says. This girl… despite being so young, she has taught me more in a couple of minutes than I have learned in the past few years.

"Thank you, Kyo."

She takes seat in the little space between Inori's feet and the end of the couch, taking my gratitude with a positive air about her.

"I just expressed my thoughts, really."

I guess she misunderstood what I was thanking her for, since the way she said it hinted she meant about her rooting for Inori and me.

"You've taught me a lot, I mean."

I admit Kyo has saved me from being tormented by all the deaths I have caused until now. Killing is not something that weights lightly on your conscience, yet is not something you should pass off as insignificant either. The conversation we have just shared has helped me find a balance between accepting responsibility and taking the blame.

"Ah, that… It's nothing, don't mention it."

She scratches her head, looking away awkwardly. I see she isn't the type to take compliments with blatant pride, even though she is quite open in giving council.

As she falls silent I fix my eyes on Inori, who is breathing peacefully in pleasant sleep. I resume stroking her smooth hair, careful not to wake her up. Being this close to her I can even catch her scent, which deliciously seeps through my nostrils and fills my lungs.

"You do have to protect her with all you have, though."

Kyo speaks, but I don't part my eyes from the beauty before me. I only answer instead.

"I know; death can make us part."

I learned that the hard way a few hours ago, when Inori and I were so close to being killed in combat. Actually, it turns out I owe my life to Scarface, of all people. My stay with him was largely unpleasant and difficult, but I still cannot understand why he went as far as killing one of his men to let me live.

"But we'll make it alive; I'll take care of both of us."

Even though he helped me out, I still cannot trust his intentions, and so I prepare myself out loud to face fight him when our paths cross again.

"That's the spirit."

Kyo seems cheerful, giving me a thumb up to show her liking of my resolve.

"I'll protect you too, Kyo… even if you're the one with the shield."

I elaborate a little to mess with her. As I wanted her to, she blushes and gets flustered, much to my amusement. I am evil.

"W-what are you talking about? Stick to Inori; she's the one you need to look after."

Alright, alright… I'll let her off the hook for now. I'll change the subject a little… but what should I talk about? I take my eyes off Inori to avoid saying something emotional and look around for ideas. The closed door that leads to the emergency room catches my attention.

"Yet even though I say that, I did fail to protect one of ours. What happened to Kenji? He isn't like that because I took his Void out quickly, is he?"

Kyo quickly falls silent, losing much of the positive air about her.

"He was held prisoner by the enemy for two days… we'll have to wait for Gai and Argo to know how he is doing, but I can guess he was treated with much brutality by Segai."

I sigh, with the name of Scarface being brought up to my mind again. I doubt anyone besides me knows about what he did back then when Inori was falling. Telling Kyo about it should be healthy; perhaps she'll help me understand his reasons. I'll bring it up in a bit, but first I'll ask something that is bugging me.

"Do Gai and Argo know about medicine?"

Kyo nods, but her level of cuteness is nothing compared to Inori's.

"Yeah, thanks to Shibungi."

Oh… so he taught them?

"Did he train Tsugumi as well, then?"

Seeing how they were looking after Inori together, I am led to believe so.

"Yes, he is currently letting her deal with all the injuries she can manage."

I feel useless when I compare myself to that girl… she is extremely talented at robotics, having gone as far as programming Funell, and I remember Gai also mentioned she is very skilled at hacking. Moreover, she's the one in charge of field communications and on top of that is learning about field medicine? She is insane!

"Whoa… the Parlor sure has very amazing people in its ranks."

Kyo laughs a little, seeing my much impressed expression.

"We've been in business for a long time."

Really? Both Kyo and Tsugumi look very young… about 14 or 15. How long would 'a long time' be for her?

"But even with so much experience, dealing with the likes of Segai is still difficult."

Hey, we agree about that man being dangerous. I knew full well that he was no small shot only after interacting a bit with him, so Kyo, as his enemy, must know more about him than I do. However, I still feel like something is extremely off about that man… he spared me, even though it meant betraying his faction and killing a soldier. Now that we've touched the subject, I guess I'd better tell Kyo of the incident.

"About Scarface… Segai, I mean. Something strange happened with him."

"When? During your interrogation?"

I shake my head.

"When Inori jumped. Moments before I reached her, I noticed a sniper was aiming at my head. I thought I was a goner, but Segai showed up behind the soldier and executed him. He even told him not to intervene – Segai knowingly saved my life, letting me draw Inori's Void and win the battle."

Kyo is as bewildered as I am about Scarface's behavior. No, that's an understatement; she seems to be even more surprised than I was back then. Judging from her reaction, I can assume she has had a few encounters with Scarface in the past and thus she knows better than I do that his actions were entirely out of character.

"Are you certain of this?"

I nod, bearing in mind my nodding is nothing compared to Inori's either.

"He was even screaming it was beautiful, hopefully referring to Inori's Void."

For the love of God, that'd better be the case.

"Eh, Shu… Segai is homosexual."

Fuck my life!

"What!? You can't mean – "

Mischievousness gets the best of Kyo, as she fashions an evil grin before replying.

"You're a pimp."

It takes all of my willpower not to jump and rage at the world – the only reason I succeed in stopping myself is the fact that Inori is still sleeping on my lap. But my veins do get exalted as I fight to keep my anger pitted inside of me, for I am unwilling to wake my girlfriend up so she can witness the awkward scene developing in this very moment.

Kyo lets go of her self-control and bursts laughing, unable to endure watching my face getting reddened by wrath. I am seriously considering punching Kyo in the nearby future.

"You look lively here."

Agh, fuck his timing! Gai opens the emergency room's door and walks towards us followed by Argo… both of them have a questioning look in their faces.

"What happened?"

Argo is already pressing Kyo to share the joke. This isn't funny.

"You'll have to ask Shu about that."

Dude, why is she laughing so hard? This is serious business! Scarface betrayed GHQ, and Kyo finds poking fun at my face to be more important than that!

"Shu? What's wrong?"

Gai inquires about why I am burying my face in one of my hands.

"Don't ask."

He looks at me in confusion, wondering what might be funny enough to make Kyo nearly drop to the floor and roll.

"Sh- Shu managed t- to make Seg-"

I block her mouth with my other hand to prevent a catastrophe, but this in turn makes Gai and Argo even more curious.

"I don't get what's going on."

Argo expresses his confusion, killing Kyo in the process: she falls to the ground and keeps laughing, unable to stand up.

Inori starts waking up from the noise. Good timing, my love.

"I'll take Inori to her room… if you'll excuse me."

I proceed to take her in my arms as I get up, readying myself to leave the room.

"Shu, are you alright? Your veins are popped up and you're flaming red."

Gai seems sincerely worried about me, making Kyo laugh even harder than she already is. She is really asking for a punch in the face, girl or not, I no longer care. Somehow I manage to keep my composure and walk out of the room, leaving the confused Gai and Argo together with the laughing maniac.

They seemed calm, so I guess Kenji is alright… I'll inquire about his welfare later, if I dare to face them after Kyo spills the beans.

"Shu?"

Inori opens her eyes weakly, most of her still dwelling in her dreams.

"I'm taking you to your room; you can stay asleep."

She wraps her arms around me tenderly, making me even redder than I already am.

I cross a random Funeral Parlor member I do not know and ask him for directions to get to Inori's room, since she obediently went back to sleep like I told her to.

Somehow, I find the door without much trouble and successfully maneuver to open it while still having the bandage-covered Inori asleep in my arms. She must really be exhausted, not fully waking up despite all of my movement.

Her room looks tidy and neat, but rather lacking in belongings. There's just a bed, a drawer and a closet: she doesn't even have a mirror. I walk over to her bed and remove my shoes; the sheets are still on, so I'll try grabbing one of their corners with my toes to pull them over so I can cover Inori with them.

I succeed in doing so, but lose my balance in the process. The end result is Inori and me falling to the bed, with Ouma Shu landing on top of his girl. And God is she soft. We hadn't been so close to each other before – I can even feel her breath tickling against my chest. Though Inori is somehow still asleep, I can feel myself getting red again at lightning speed due to the unexpected situation.

"Rookie… what are you doing?"

For God's sake, why does Ayase always walk into the room in the worst possible moment? Everyone does! Agh, I'm mad!

"You know the excuse: this is not what it seems, and all that shit."

I say it in an angry tone as I get up, perhaps accidentally insinuating Ayase interrupted something due to my pissed demeanor.

"Right…"

She doesn't look like she believes me. I cover Inori with her bed sheets, put my shoes back on and walk towards the girl sitting in a wheelchair outside in the corridor. She motions me with her fingers to draw my face closer to her.

I know where this is going, but I do so anyway after closing the door behind me.

SLAP!

Yeah, I expected that. I turn the other cheek, so she can balance them out.

She looks at me seriously, not moving an inch.

"Go ahead, do it. I deserve it, after all."

I tell her to proceed, and she doesn't hesitate to slap me again. I can feel the anger behind her strikes being vented on me, but she has every right to hit me, so I don't complain. I did get captured and put everyone in danger, in the end. I actually needed someone to get mad at me so I'll never do something so stupid again.

I slowly pull my head back, but Ayase signs me to stop. I do, and she slaps me again. Hell, she was mad at me… this last one was heavy.

"The first was for me, the second for everyone, and the third one for Inori."

She explains herself as I finally make distance between my face and her murder tools.

"The first was your fault, though."

I talk back a little, unwilling to accept I was in the wrong when she walked on me naked.

"Shut up."

But she doesn't take it too graciously.

"Wanna go for a stroll with me? I'd like to talk."

She stares at me for a moment, considering my proposal.

"About what?"

I wonder if she honestly thinks I'm a pervert… she seems to be wondering if I am deviously scheming to do something to her as well.

"I want to make up with you; we'll be fighting together from now on."

She stares at me again, this time for longer than before, yet gives in in the end.

"Okay."

Heh… it's a curt reply, but at least a positive one.

"Mind if we go for some food? I'm starving."

I guess grabbing a bite together would be a good start, so I suggest the idea. I really am hungry, so this will be killing two birds with one stone.

"Ah, that's right… you haven't been shown around the installations. Tsugumi spoiled you with room service last time, after all."

She says the last part rather aggressively, telling me she didn't like the fact. Damn it, getting into good terms with this girl will be much more difficult than I thought.

"It couldn't be helped, I was knocked out cold."

"Oh, I wonder why that happened."

Destiny somehow keeps bringing up the taboo subject again and again, making things worse even as we make way for the kitchen. Ayase is still very bitter about it, which doesn't help.

"Can we leave that in the past? It was an accident, and you did hit me really hard. Neither of us liked it, so let's call it even… please?"

Ayase sighs, relaxing a little.

"Alright, I'm sorry."

I extend a hand to her, hoping she will shake it. Her wheelchair stops as she ceases rolling its wheels and looks at my palm in question.

"Friends?"

For once, Ayase smiles weakly.

"You're really old-fashioned, aren't you?"

I smile in return, hoping to keep the mood improving.

"Just a bit."

She takes my hand, confirming my theory that all girls are soft, and we exchange a handshake meant to somewhat lessen the tension between us.

We keep moving towards the kitchen, until we at last reach the place where glorious food awaits us. Or so I thought. There's nobody here other than Ayase, myself, and a shitload of ingredients surrounding us.

"So… now we cook, I presume."

I ask, hoping my sister in arms will tell me there's already some food prepared.

"Of course we do."

Ah, fuck this shit.

"I'll say this beforehand… I suck at cooking."

Ayase shakes her head in disapproval.

"We'll begin your training right here, then."

Hoh… so the first step in becoming a great warrior is eating like a boss?

"You're helping me out, right?"

I ask for some mercy.

"Just this time; I'll put you to the test later."

She asks for too much – there is no way I'll learn how to cook properly in just one session. I'll have no option but to ask someone to teach me. Kyo is out of the question after the incident with Segai a while ago, so Tsugumi looks like a good prospect… but perhaps I could take my chances and ask Inori.

I really doubt she can cook very well, but I can act like a total newbie and get a healthy amount of physical contact with her during the experience. Hehe… I'm starting to like the idea more and more.

"Rookie, stay focused."

Ah, right, Ayase is here. She has a sharp nose for sniffing my perverseness, I don't know why, so I should keep my mind clean for the time being.

I walk to the kitchen sink to wash my hands, first of all, and Ayase approaches to do the same. However, a problem prevents her from doing so: she cannot reach the soap from where she is, sitting in her wheelchair.

She got pissed at me last time I tried to push her, so I have a feeling she is rather touchy in having others doing things for her regarding her inability. There's no way she'll reach the bottle from where she is, however, so I send my worries out the window and pass it to her.

"Thanks."

Hey, my head is still attached. I'm glad… she even went as far as thanking me.

I take a nearby kitchen towel and give it to her so she can dry her hands before I do, being a gentleman and all. She doesn't explode because of the gesture, either, so I feel a bit more confident at dealing with her now.

She gives the towel back to me, with which get dried myself and then hang back where it was before I took it. I proceed to move towards the fridge, but notice my companion stayed behind. I turn around and see that she is right where I left her, looking at me.

"Ayase?"

For some reason, she looks like she's reluctant to say something that's stuck inside of her. She takes a breath in preparation and spills it out.

"I need you to push my chair, or else I'll get my hands dirty again."

Oh. I was stupid not to notice beforehand.

"Right, sorry."

I go back and ask her to forgive my lack of consideration.

"Don't apologize."

She's as snappy as ever, even though I was sincere about it.

We go to one of the large refrigerators and grab some chicken meat, a couple of peppers, onions, mini corn cobs, and bean sprouts. Then we proceed to take a few of the ingredients stored outside the fridge: soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil and something I can't recognize.

"What's this?"

I ask Ayase as I take a strange piece of food I can only describe as a root.

"Ginger root."

I see… I had never seen it whole before.

Without asking more, I place all the collected ingredients in a table right by the iron griddle and then return for Ayase to bring her closer. She reaches up to the edge of the sturdy furniture and brings her own body up with her hands.

"Help me."

Surprisingly, she asks for my assistance again, so I go and risk a fourth slap by grabbing her waist with both of my hands and turn her around so she can sit properly.

"Stop smiling."

Sorry.

* * *

><p>About an hour later, largely because of my slowness in successfully following Ayase's instructions, we are done preparing a delicious-looking chicken teppanyaki. My stomach is growling by now, after taking so long in making the dish despite the fact that Ayase and I worked together in cutting and grating the ingredients.<p>

There was a second episode of contact with Ayase, where she asked me to get her down from the table and back to her wheelchair, but it went more smoothly than when I helped her up. I guess interacting with each other for a while calmed her fiery temper a little.

I let Ayase take care of the tray full of food and two large glasses of water while I push her to the dining room, letting her keep her hands clean for eating as well.

I move a chair away to place hers in its stead before one of the dining doom's long tables, and then take seat right in front of her on the other side. I look around a little, admiring the huge dimensions of the place – there's enough room and furniture for about a thousand people here… I wonder just how crowded the place gets during official meals.

There are still a few Parlor members here and there finishing the last of their food, hinting everyone was eating while I was with Kyo in the medical quarters. I'm assuming Ayase was somewhere else too, seeing how she's readying her chopsticks for use.

"Itadakimasu."

"Itadakimasu."

We are quick to test the result of our hard work, and much to my relief, it tastes quite good. We keep digging into the teppanyaki without exchanging any words, both of us fairly busy munching down and swallowing.

"You did fairly well for your first time."

Holy Jesus, Ayase praised me! I can't believe my ears.

"You were there to help me, so of course I did."

I decide to play a little with her.

"I know; you'd be hopeless alone."

She's harsh as ever, but this time her comment felt free from hostility. We're making progress, one step at a time.

"Would you mind cooking with me again? I really liked your tutelage."

There's a chance she'll take it the wrong way, thinking I'm trying to hit on her, but I really did enjoy the hour we spent in the kitchen and honestly want to improve my cooking. The idea of taking Inori to the kitchen was attractive, but being able to take a good meal to her room when she wakes up strikes as being more rewarding.

"You just want to keep touching me."

See? I knew it.

"No, I'm serious! I really need a cooking partner so I can take turns in the kitchen when necessary. Come on, I'll make some for you as well once I get better at it."

I plea for her to believe in my innocence, hoping for the best.

Ayase, again, stays quiet for a moment while she thinks about it.

"I'll do it under one condition."

Yay! It worked!

"What would that be?"

I hope it's not something outrageous.

"Don't act rashly ever again. People died last night rescuing you, Shu – we lost soldiers because you messed up. I'm still mad at you for it, and everyone else is also in the right of being so. I agreed to spend the past hour or so with you only because Gai entrusted your training to me, so you still have to prove your worth before I can forgive you."

My good mood vanishes quickly upon hearing what she had to say. I know; running off with Yahiro caused a hell of a mess for everyone, Funeral Parlor and GHQ alike. I was tricked, and it was my allies who had to pay for my mistake.

I get up from my chair and walk to Ayase's side. She turns to me in question, but I act before she can speak to me. I bow down all the way to the floor in apology, having little else in my power to show how much I regret having fucked things up the way I did.

Both of us stay motionless for a while, and since I am looking down I'm unaware of how Ayase is taking this. It is she who breaks the silence in the end.

"Get up, Shu. That's enough."

I do as told, forcing myself to look at her eye to eye despite the horrible sense of shame urging me to turn away. The thought of making Ayase and the rest lose comrades because of me hits me pretty hard, like it should, but I take it and face her anyway. Running from this would make me flee from responsibility, which I am willing and able to carry for however long it may be necessary.

"Let's wash the dishes and get some ice for you… I hit your face too much."

Ayase's eyes bear no anger towards me anymore as she indirectly apologizes for slapping me. We really needed to spend some time together and make amends… I'm glad things worked out between us in the end.

I take the tray with the empty plates and glasses so Ayase can push herself once again. Since she no longer needs to keep her hands clean, I assume she'd not take it well if I tried pushing her again for the time being.

As I put everything in the sink and start washing it, Ayase goes to the freezer and gets some ice like she suggested shortly ago, but I motion her to put it away.

"I'll let the swelling go down by itself… I don't want to forget it."

At last, Ayase gives me an honest smile as she shuts the freezer's door closed. I was sincere in what I said, too, so I believe we have reached the mutual understanding we had failed to establish these past couple of days.

We stay together in silence for a while, having little left to say. Once I'm done with cleaning and returning everything we used back to its place, we part ways to our respective rooms, both of us requiring to rest after the night we spent in combat.

I pass by Inori's room on the way and remember what Kyo said to me: the strongest of bonds are formed in the battlefield. Perhaps today I laid the foundations of not only my relationship with Inori, but also a life-long friendship with Ayase and Kyo.

There are still other people I am yet to exchange much needed words with, such as Tsugumi, Haruka and Hare, and others I barely know like Shibungi, Argo, and Ogumo.

This is a very selfish thought, but I don't want to lose anyone anymore. Therefore, I'll strive to get closer to those with whom I already have ties, and I will try to understand all the people who have fought alongside Triton in my stead.

It is only after that is done that I'll be able to truly bear the Power of the King Inori gave to me. As her partner, I can't afford to do any less, can I? Ayase herself said I still have to prove my worth. If I am to atone for having caused all the deaths I have, then I must live up to not only everyone's expectations, but also to my own.

Who is Ouma Shu? Ouma Shu is the King. I can simply feel it – the power coursing through my veins is screaming it like an absolute truth. And so, I will answer the call to become the one who protects. A true King's duty is to serve, and therefore, a servant to my comrades I shall be.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Origins

I wander around my room, trying to get accustomed to what will probably be my new home from now on. Its unpainted stone walls are very different from the white ones of my old place, which gave off a more welcoming air compared to the cold and stillness I feel from the whole headquarters in general.

This new bedroom is fairly austere, having only a chest of drawers, a desk, a chair and an untidy bed I must do after having slept on it for probably most of the day. I have no idea what time it is now since there are no windows in here and I don't have a watch on me. My phone was killed by Funell when he first attacked me, too, so I have no means of knowing just for how long I slept other than checking outside on the corridor.

Just like the GHQ's headquarters, the Funeral Parlor's also has a thing for crystal roofs. They get to save energy by using the sun's light, I guess. Anyway, back to business: there is something more important than knowing the time. Haruka pointed it out a few days ago, and the streak of events that happened recently has prevented me from following her council: I need to bathe, very urgently.

Hell, I need to brush my teeth too – I stink from everywhere in every possible way. Being in mortal peril makes one forget about personal hygiene, but now that I'm in a relatively safe place, I have no excuse not to keep myself clean.

I open a drawer from the wooden chest and find a uniform set neatly folded inside, most likely because Tsugumi or someone else put it there while I was away with Inori and Kyo. Giving thanks in my mind to the unknown person, I take the clothes with me and make for the door, praying I'll stumble upon someone who can guide me to a tub or a shower.

Once outside in the corridor, I see the place is illuminated only by the moonlight entering from the clear glass above me. I can only estimate the time, so I'll believe it's about midnight to keep my inner clock at track.

I start walking and immediately find something is abnormal in me. Given how it is pretty dark, I thought I'd have to wait for a bit so my eyes could get used to the low amount of light, but surprisingly I can see quite well already.

This is strange. Back then inside the GHQ's headquarters, when Inori jumped and the sniper was about to blow my head off, I could see him and even hear what Scarface said despite being very away from both of them.

At first, I thought it was the adrenaline that sharpened my senses to unnaturally high levels, but now I see that they still remain far more sensitive than they used to be before. Proof to this is the fact that I can hear a door being closed in the distance and a pair of footsteps walking ahead of me in the same direction.

It's nighttime, so all sounds can be caught more easily than during the day, but even being able to recognize who the steps belong to is too much. I hasten my pace to reach him, but he stops and turns around upon sensing my presence approaching from behind.

"Shu?"

"Enjoying the night, Triton?"

He laughs lightly, making the eerie atmosphere a bit warmer.

"Just heading to the bath house; I presume you'd want to join."

Hey, both of us are carrying a set of clothes. Getting around here has been very easy, as somehow I keep running into people who can help me out when I need them to. Finding Triton in here going to the very place I was looking for is no exception.

"Yeah, I'm made a mess after the previous battle."

More precisely, I've been a mess ever since I got into the fight by the tunnel, but I omit the small details and motion my friend to lead the way.

"Let's go, then."

We keep walking together in the darkness, which for some reason fits the cold corridor much better than I thought at first. The dim light shone by the stars and the moon melts into the stone around us, giving rise to a slight sense of mysticism as the echo of our stride betrays the secrecy of our movement.

Before long, we arrive at a section of the building I had never seen before, where Triton opens a door and enters ahead of me. I follow and he flicks the lights on, killing the mood of mystery I had found so much enjoyment upon.

I survey the place with my eyes, and see there are a large number of aisles with showers lined on each of them, all of them making a huge open shower bay. I should have known.

Well, shyness can go to hell. I commence stripping my clothes off together with Triton, who wordlessly does the same. It is only natural a military organization wouldn't bother with niceties like individual showers, so I won't ridicule myself by even asking.

We step into the nearest aisle and turn the hot water knobs of two adjacent showers. Triton walks in without problem, but I immediately retreat upon coming into contact with the flaming magma spitting from the perforated nozzle above me.

Triton laughs at me in amusement, and then reaches for the cold water knob to balance the temperature. I sigh and try again, to find that the heat is nothing short of perfect. This bastard has quite some practice, I can see.

"I didn't know you were into sports, Shu."

Hm? Triton says an unusual statement as I grab hold of a bar of soap and a washing mitt.

"I'm not, actually. Why do you ask?"

"What are you talking about? Look at yourself."

I do as he says and – MOTHER OF GOD!

"What the hell? I'm ripped!"

Jesus, I can't avoid showing my surprise as I realize that all of my muscles are extremely defined and toned, as if I had carefully trained them for months. Triton seems to be confused by my reaction, but I myself have no idea as of what happened to me.

"Man, I wasn't like this yesterday!"

I elaborate, honestly saying this is entirely new to me.

"It couldn't have been… but wait. Could it? It has to be."

Triton is talking to himself aloud as he ponders about the reason behind the change in me.

"What is it?"

I ask him to tell me what's going on.

"I can only assume it is the Void Genome's doing. Intel we gathered before stealing it said that Sephirah intended to bring about humanity's evolution with it, so if the Genome modified your body to be genetically perfected, it wouldn't be strange for this to happen. Has anything else been different lately?"

I get it now! As Triton explains the most believable theory as of why I suddenly am so physically fit, I finally understand why I feel as if my senses were over the edge: they really are more potent than they had ever been before!

"Yes; I have been able to feel everything around me more vividly than I used to, as if my senses had been sharpened like an animal's."

To test just how much impact the Void Genome has had on me, I bring the washing mitt to my nose and smell it. Horror fills my heart as I believe to have identified who used this piece of cloth last.

"Argo showered here a while ago, didn't he?"

I ask Triton, to confirm my conclusion. Hell, I feel like a dog.

"I believe he did; he said he wanted to cool down after Kyo's, eh… revelation."

Yet Triton treads into the fields of a taboo.

"Pretend you never heard that; it's just Kyo making up things."

Triton scratches his head stiffly, not believing what I said.

"It did get you out alive, though."

And he points out something I can't deny.

"Scarface can think whatever he pleases; I have Inori and she's all I want."

To put an end to this topic, I clearly establish my posture towards Kyo's claims that I charmed my way out of danger. Triton falls silent as I speak, however, making me realize I probably made an ugly mistake just now.

"You did confess to each other back then, didn't you?"

Uh… shit. Inori said she and Gai were very close, even to the point of considering him family. That means that the possibility of more-than-familiar feelings existing between them is high, thus making it entirely plausible that I stole the chick away from my friend.

"Ah, that…"

I don't know what to say. Triton prevents an awkward silence from emerging by slapping my back soundly with the heavy palm of his hand.

"What a way to become a couple, Shu. Well done."

Of all things, he is smiling. It's possible he could be genuinely happy about Inori and me, but there's also the chance he is swallowing his pride and letting her go. Agh… I feel like I stabbed him in the back without even realizing. Yet here he is, telling me it's alright for me to stay with the girl in question without knowing if he loved her too or not.

Back at home when I got jealous of Gai after Inori told me she still remembered the exact day when they met, I told myself I either had competition or was becoming the usurper. By this point in time, I entirely see myself as the latter, yet I don't dare to ask Triton if that was the case or not… which leads to an invisible tension from my part that I can't break.

"Yeah, I'd never been confessed to before plunging to certain death. Inori is the real deal."

I carry on with what he said, unable to bring myself to ask him about what's bugging me.

"You'll have great stories to say with that, I'm sure. Only our team was hearing the conversation, so not everyone knows yet."

So it still hasn't become public knowledge... unless word has spread already, which is probably the case with the likes of Kyo in the Parlor's ranks. Ah, fuck this! I'll ask.

"Hey, Triton, tell me the truth. Did I steal her from you?"

Straight to the point, Goddamn it.

My friend sighs, making me understand that was pretty much the case.

"Inori and I have very close history, but romance was never part of it. I'd be lying if I said I didn't like her, but since she has chosen you then I will quietly accept her decision."

Ah, I knew it. Today I have failed as a friend. I try to say something in return, but Triton suddenly interrupts by poking his finger hard at my chest.

"Since it has come to this, you have to look after her in my stead. Don't do something stupid like feeling bad about me; both of us are above fighting over a girl. Understand?"

Jesus, Triton is more of a friend than I deserve. And still he is staring straight to my face, telling me he is serious about what he is saying. Fine, damn it, I'll let him take one for me and accept his request of manning up and claiming the girl as mine.

I offer my hand to him, putting up as much of an air of brotherhood as I can.

"No shit between us?"

Triton seems glad with my compliance, clasping my hand with strength as I ask him.

"No shit between us, brother."

Ahhh, this guy is fucking awesome. We share a moment of unmitigated comradeship, during which I realize I'm sure glad I don't have a sister. Right, Ron?

"She did grow fond of you very fast, though. Can't compete with that."

We let go and he breaks the silence, saying something I've heard before.

"Kyo said the same thing."

But I can't deny it is true; I can still count the days we have known each other with the fingers of a single hand. Talk about lightning speed.

"What, Kyo liked Inori too?"

Triton says something fun. Although jokingly, he's pointing the fact that I left it open for interpretation that the young girl wanted to compete over Inori's heart as well.

"Yeah, she's into girls."

I carry on, taking revenge from her abuse of the incident with Scarface.

"Right, right. Speaking of which, I heard you were hitting on Ayase earlier. You aren't trying to get a harem, are you?"

Say what!?

"Who told you that? I just grabbed a bite with her, that's all."

Jesus; gossip flies in this place.

"I'm just shitting on you, I know."

Bastard. Keep laughing, go on.

"It was Kyo, wasn't it?"

If someone did say it like that to him, I can't think of anyone else.

"Yeah, she said she saw you together in the dining room."

Really? Seems I've got someone stalking me.

"She's keeping a close eye on me. Afraid I'll walk away again?"

Triton looks up as if thinking about it, making me wonder if I was or not on the mark.

"Kyo is looking after you, in her own way. She has been like this since she was a girl... always maintaining a straight face, pushing us to stay alive."

Whoa, that's intense. THE Tsutsugami Gai is attributing his survival to a young girl just barely in her teens. Would this be why her Void is shaped as a shield? If one's nature is what defines his soul's physical appearance, then this would make perfect sense.

"She did save our asses last night, now that you mention it. But just how did she do it before she could use her Void?"

I'm very curious, actually. We made it alive specifically because Kyo literally shielded us from all harm, but even still Gai is saying she has protected her comrades since time ago. Just what kind of maneuvers could she use in conventional warfare to defend them?

"She kept us alive from the inside, I mean. The only reason why all of us still retain our sanities is that both Kyo and Tsugumi were there. Or well… so I'd like to say."

"What do you mean?"

"Shell shock got the best of Kenji, leading to his capture."

Fuck, too much information. Okay, so both Kyo and Tsugumi kept everyone in their senses but Kenji still snapped in the end. Kyo mentioned she had been in the business for a long time, and Gai just implied that he has known her since she was a child. Connecting all of this together, I can only assume that Triton has been through hell and back these past ten years we've been separated.

"Why did they get him?"

I ask what's most important first: I want to confirm if what Scarface said of Kenji killing innocent children is true.

"When he was getting into position to provide Inori with assistance in stealing the Void Genome, a group of thugs ran into him along the way. They pulled out guns on him, so I granted permission to use lethal force over the radio.

He dispatched them with his combat knife, but a group of kids happened to be leaving a nearby building and witnessed the scene. The children screamed, forcing Kenji to recall the memories of his past and he reflexively opened fire on them.

What Segai surely told you about Kenji being a murderer is true, every word of it. He caused the death of seven boys and three girls who were entirely unrelated to our conflict; I had Tsugumi investigate and confirmed their unfortunate fates.

You may believe I am in the wrong in rescuing someone who has sinned the way he has, and you have every right to think that way, but I still cannot abandon him. The bonds that tie Kido Kenji and me were forged with fire and blood, and nothing will ever break that."

Holy shit, dude. Just what on Earth happened to him in all these years?

"Could you tell me the story? I want to know. About your past, that is."

For a while, only the sound of the warm water running from our bodies to the floor can be heard. Gai breaks the silence by sighing, telling me he is about to comply.

"Do you really want me to tell you? Largely, it's the story of shitty childhoods filled with horror and war. Perhaps you'd be best by not knowing about our origins."

Yeah, this is bad. Triton told me to be careful with that I ask, since every piece of new information can potentially change the way I perceive everyone around me. However, I do not want to stay in the dark, merely seeing the surface of everyone I will be fighting together with from now on. If we are to be comrades, I must understand what they have gone through: I cannot truly be part of the Funeral Parlor if I am ignorant of its past.

"Go ahead, I'll listen. Don't hold anything back… tell me everything cold and straight."

I resolve myself to hear it all as it was, asking Triton not to sugarcoat anything. My friend seems to understand the reasoning behind my request, as he projects an air of seriousness that tells me shit will get real from now on.

"It all goes back to the immediate aftermath of Mana's death. I couldn't endure seeing her shattered body, so I ran away from the church and got lost in the mayhem that engulfed the city shortly afterwards.

Everything went to hell that day; people were crystalizing everywhere in a matter of seconds, violently succumbing to the Apocalypse Virus. As you might imagine, chaos ensued immediately, and I was unable to find my way back to you or Haruka in time.

When I finally got to the church, you had been already taken away and the military had surrounded the place to secure what was left of Mana. I attempted to find the hospital where you had been interned, but someone attacked me before I could.

I don't remember exactly how it happened; someone hit me from behind and I fell unconscious. Next thing I knew, I was inside a cramped truck full with other children about my age, and we were all being taken away somewhere.

We were forced into an airplane, and set off to a place unknown to us. They intended to sell us in the black market, you see… Human trafficking rocketed sky-high during the riots of Lost Christmas, and I as well as the other kids was unlucky enough to fall in the hands of the yakuza.

The plane landed at some point, apparently for refueling, and one of the other kids managed to pick the lock of the compartment we were being held inside. We immediately broke out running, scattering everywhere to avoid capture.

I could tell we were in a foreign country; the dense vegetation surrounding the hidden airport was entirely uncharacteristic of Japan, but I had no choice but to brave the jungle and pray for the best. Many of the children were recaptured, but I managed to elude the pursuers and eventually ran into two other kids that had been kidnapped with me.

They were Shinomiya Ayase and Sendo Tsugumi, the latter crying and being comforted by the former. We were very young, you know. Both Ayase and I were ten… I think Tsugumi was yet to reach seven by that time.

The three of us immediately became a group with me as its leader, and we wandered through the wilderness in search for other children and a place to find refuge. We slowly grew in numbers, having found Kyo, Argo and Kenji along the way. There were other kids with us as well, but they weren't so fortunate and died to hunger and illness before we got to a small village that took us in.

As soon as we saw the village folk we realized we had been stranded somewhere in Africa, where we didn't know any of the local languages nor had any way to go back to our native country.

The people in that nameless community were still kind enough to take care of us for a couple of months, and during that time we learned to collect food in the wilds while avoiding danger such as natural hazards and predators. We had to adapt very quickly, or else we would have died in a place as hostile as the jungle.

A few of us fell sick very badly, too, since we hadn't been inoculated with any vaccines to endure the diseases that torment the African continent. Ayase contracted malaria and nearly died from it, even. Tsugumi was with her for days straight, and the two of them have been extremely close ever since.

We were starting to learn the local dialect when things went wrong again. You should be aware that guerillas used to be raging very hard in several parts of Africa, and fate was gracious enough to curse with being dragged into one of such conflicts.

A notorious warlord and his band paid a visit to the village and forcibly took away most of the children inside, us included, to fight for them as cannon fodder. It was a miracle the girls in our group were not raped by them on spot, given how the soldiers gave priority to the women old enough to grow secondary sexual characteristics.

We witnessed it all, however, bidding farewell to our childhoods. It wasn't before long that we were given rudimentary weaponry like handguns and such and then pushed into a battlefield we neither understood nor cared about.

I took leadership of my little group, composed by the children who had escaped with me from the yakuza, and concentrated on staying away from danger as much as we could. There were times when we had no choice but to fight, so we did, and it was then that we learned what it felt like to kill other people… in this case, other kids our age.

Every day was hell, really. The higher ups had us under very tight surveillance and we couldn't run away; there were a few others who tried and were killed then and there in front of us. Those guys were ruthless, forcing children to fight in order to preserve their own men intact, and they knew very well how to keep us in line.

There was a point in which I couldn't continue laying low in the battlefield and was forced to take my team into open combat, relying on ambushes and hit-and-run tactics to avoid taking casualties.

We eventually became a highly organized group, having fought for two years straight and lived to tell the tale. My team and I became masters of guerrilla warfare, and were capable of dispatching priority targets with relative ease by utilizing communications equipment we had stolen from an enemy camp.

It's really a wonder what a team with proper role cohesion can do, both in and outside the field of battle. While I gave it my all in keeping us alive through the war, Kyo took it to herself to keep our psychological health within functional levels. Even now, I still have no idea how she stayed optimistic through it all, with her head held high as she kept doing what she called 'fighting for a better future'.

Killing other kids hit us very hard, and the most affected one was Kenji. Kyo frequently spent entire nights talking with him, convincing him that life was worth struggling for, always telling him he should not lose hope.

I must say again, I don't understand how she did it. It was ten-year-old girl who kept all of us from breaking down, giving me the strength to rally everyone for battle every time we were pushed into the fray.

The hundreds of days we spent together in combat made us grow very close to each other, as you might imagine, and whenever disputes rose between us, Tsugumi immediately rose to break them apart.

If Kyo was the one keeping us sane, then Tsugumi was the one who made us all get along. It is ironic that the two little girls of our group became the pillars that supported the whole team as we clung to life in the hostile foreign lands.

Kenji worked as our lookout most of the time, given how he wasn't specially fit for combat, and worked together with Tsugumi to provide us with information about the enemy's movements before, during and after we engaged in battle.

The ones who actually got into the firefights were Argo, Ayase, Kyo and I. Naturally, there were times when Kenji and Tsugumi needed to join us in action, and so they too had their extensive share of battlefield experience.

By the time our fate was meant to change, we had already become seasoned veterans who knew exactly what they had to do and how to do it during engagements. And still, even all that preparation wasn't enough to face him, the man who became the turning point of our miserable lives in Africa.

We were tasked to eliminate the leader of a mercenary group that had joined the conflict. Kenji and Tsugumi gathered information about his forces, and after careful planning we pulled off an ambush on him as he crossed through our territory.

However, he turned the tables on us entirely, and my whole squad ended up surrounded by the mercenary troops. I offered my surrender in exchange for my team's lives, but the soldiers took all of us as prisoners of war instead of executing us on spot.

Turns out, the man who took us in was Japanese, and went by the name of Shibungi. Shortly after our capture, I had the chance to speak with him in person, and learned that he was very surprised to find children from his homeland fighting in such a remote place.

We had a long conversation where I explained everything that led us to that distant country and how we wound up fighting against him. Shibungi sympathized with us, understanding we were not truly enemies, and offered to keep us under his protection while the conflict was resolved by him and the Undertakers, his mercenary company.

I was very blessed that day, really. I would have never imagined encountering an idealistic Japanese man hell-bent on crushing those who abused the weak. Shibungi was just that man, who went to the extreme of founding a private military company with the specific purpose of ending conflicts he deemed as unrighteous.

And there he was, giving me a chance to quit fighting and hide behind him while the war was done. Of course, I turned him down, and immediately offered my services to him: like he did, I wanted to put an end to those who turned innocent children into soldiers.

Shibungi was unwilling to let us fight, but he changed his mind when the rest of my group backed me up unanimously, with even Kenji pressing him to accept us into his ranks. He equipped us with proper gear, introduced us to the rest of his forces, and even allowed me to continue having command over my team.

We fought like we had never fought before, lashing back at our former captors with all our fury. We kept pushing forward, even though many of the casualties we inflicted were against other children who had once fought by our side; they stayed loyal to the warlord who abducted them, and we had no choice but to kill them to get to him.

After a long and dangerous series of battles, my squad and I made it to the middle of the enemy camp, where we fought our way through the men who had enslaved us. Ayase and I eventually found ourselves face to face with their leader, and a very fierce fight ensued between us. In the end I managed to dig a bullet into his head, but our side did not go unscathed: Ayase was grievously wounded by him as we exchanged fire.

I really thought she was going to die that day; she was hit by a bullet right in her spine. Shibungi regrouped with us and hastened to take her back to camp, where he had high-end medical equipment for military use, and gave Ayase emergency treatment.

For the second time in her life she slipped from the hands of Death itself, but she has been confined to a wheelchair ever since. It was this very experience that made all of my team and I learn field medicine from Shibungi, in case you were wondering.

The Undertakers and we withdrew from African soils after Ayase was stabilized, and traveled to their headquarters on a desolate island in the southern end of Japan.

Shibungi offered to send us back to our families in the mainland, but none of us really had anywhere to return to. I did some research and found Haruka and you were still alive, but the families of everyone else were dead, either made victims of the Lost Christmas incident or already deceased beforehand, as it was in Tsugumi's case.

I couldn't go back to the Ouma family and leave behind everyone who had fought by my side during all those years, so I officially joined the Undertakers and assisted Shibungi in deciding which would be the next war we would throw ourselves into.

Deep investigation of Japan's GHQ revealed evidence of the Void Genome Project, which was backed up even by the UN behind the scenes, and so we decided we would take the fight ourselves to stop them.

Things happened to the Undertaker's inner workings, some people left, some people joined us, and Shibungi named me the leader of the new group that was created specifically to fight against Sephirah and the Apocalypse Virus.

We changed our name to the Funeral Parlor and have been acting in the shadows ever since. This building in particular has been our headquarters for less than a month; we acquired and prepared it to serve as our base of operations for the next few weeks.

And well, that's largely the Funeral Parlor's history. Quite a tale, isn't it?

Uh… Shu?"


	16. Interlude 14,5

Interlude (14.5)

Sweet Dreams

"Holy shit, dude."

"Are you alright?"

"I will be… don't worry about it."

"Take your time, then."

"Thanks."

I support my own weight with both hands against the wall, as the mere weight of the water falling on me is nearly enough to make my knees bend. Keeping the bits and pieces of the story I already knew from previous conversations in mind, I had already imagined Triton and the rest had grown up in a battlefield, but even with that I was unprepared to hear the entirety of the story that unfolded before my friend hit even his teen years.

Both of us stay in silence for a while as I digest everything I learned just now. Now I understand everything a bit better: why Kyo was there for me after Inori was treated, why Tsugumi is so good in dealing with other people, why Ayase was furious at me after my careless actions, why Kenji snapped and got captured, why Argo looks so gloomy, and why Tsutsugami Gai shows such an imposing air of leadership when he is in action.

Hell, this is insane, but I must accept it and bear the fact I could do nothing to spare Triton the experience of being submerged into the life of a killer. The only consolation I have to compensate for this feeling of impotence is the fact that I willingly jumped into the same train he has been riding for so long; I am now as much of a murder as he was forced to be, which enables us to see eye to eye once more.

Okay, I'm calming down. Breathe, Shu, breathe! Count to ten and all that shit.

"Well, I can't say much other than I'm here for you now."

It took me a couple of minutes, but I am now composed enough to resume our talk. However, Triton himself is the one who takes time to answer this time, making me wonder what's going on inside his head.

"What's wrong?"

Hesitating is unlike him, so I press the issue at hand.

"It just struck me that my reaction of seeing you join our forces was rejoicing. Somehow, until this moment I had entirely failed to see that I dragged you into the world I decided to hide from you before."

Ah, I get it now. Like Inori, part of him must regret having put my peaceful days to an end. I can imagine Triton not wanting to involve me into his troubles, given how his perception of me is linked to the normal life he had before the Apocalypse Virus fucked everything up.

"That's only natural, isn't it? I did join the conflict by my own volition, having rescued Inori while knowing full well Sephirah would have my head for it. It was clear from the start that I was looking for trouble; all you did was giving me a little push."

Triton drops the serious mood, laughing lightly at my reply.

"You adapt very quickly to what's new to you; Darwin would be proud."

Natural selection, huh? I do have the Void Genome in me, so I guess that can't be denied.

"Speaking of Inori, you didn't mention how you got to know her. What's the story?"

I notice Triton omitted an important part of his past, and so I ask, but Triton immediately falls silent after I do.

"Did I step into a mine?"

I express my worry, seeing how my friend is reluctant to tell me about the girl in question.

"Yes, you did. Speaking about Inori's origins is a very delicate thing, even for most of the other members of the Funeral Parlor. The only ones who know about it besides me are Ayase and the rest, as well as Shibungi and Ogumo."

This is news to me. I had always had a feeling that something about Inori was unusual, but having Triton directly telling me that her past is a taboo subject makes me understand that there is way more about her than I had initially thought.

"You'd be better off not asking anyone about it just yet. I will explain everything to you when the time is right, but that is not now."

God damn it, being told this only makes my curiosity itch even harder, but something tells me I should believe in Triton's judgment and stay in the dark until he says otherwise.

Agh, this is difficult.

"I won't press on the matter, then, but what if Inori herself tells me?"

But I do point out a likely scenario, taking into consideration Inori's poor ability in discerning between what she should and shouldn't say. I can't openly ask her not to talk about her past, since I would feel like a douchebag, so the risk of her spilling the beans will be existent unless Triton does something about it himself.

"Then you will know before I'd have liked you to; as simple as that. I will not interfere with Inori's decisions about how she wants to lead her relationship with you, after all."

Ah, Triton is way too considerate, giving us personal space even when I snatched the girl from him. But he did tell me not to dwell in feeling sorry for him, so I'll just accept his cooperation without complaints.

"Thanks. I appreciate it, really."

Yet I do voice my gratitude; it's the least I can do.

"Don't mention it; I just wish for the best for her."

Agh, see? He does have feelings for her. No, Shu, enough! Stop feeling guilty about it.

"You're too good, mate."

I tell the truth, finding myself obliged to say it.

"Of course I am."

Hahaha, this cocky bastard.

Our talk dies with that and we shut the water off, since we have spent far more time showering than we'd have normally needed. We fetch a pair of towels to dry us, and then proceed to put on our sets of clean clothes. Amusingly, both are identical uniforms.

"You sleep with that on?"

I ask him, assuming he is heading to rest now since it's still the middle of the night.

"Same goes to you, where's your pajamas?"

Ah, he got me.

"Dirty; I didn't get chance to do the laundry last time."

I lie – I didn't even look for them.

"Ah, really? I recall Tsugumi telling me she had taken care of that for you."

Shit.

"And she forgot to wash yours?"

I retort hastily, trying to fight back after being caught red-handed.

"I always sleep with these."

Fuck this shit.

We leave the bath house and head towards our respective rooms, but Triton breaks the silence again before we part ways.

"Get proper rest tonight, Shu. Your training will commence tomorrow, so you'd better be in good shape to keep up."

Hey, that's fun. I've never undergone any sort of combat training before, unless videogames count. This sounds exciting… I wonder what Gai has in mind.

"What will I be doing?"

My curiosity gets the best of me once more. I am weak of mind, I admit.

"Tsugumi will evaluate your physical condition, Argo will teach you close quarters combat, Inori will be in charge of handgun training, Ogumo will show you about assault rifles and heavy weaponry, and finally you'll have a mock fight with your supervisor."

It sounds good to me. The day will be busy, and there is no way in hell I can possibly learn all I must before I can do something in conventional combat, but at least having an idea of the basics should be better than nothing. However, something does worry me.

"Isn't it too early for a mock fight? If I face anyone without drawing a Void out, I'll be done for in a matter of seconds."

Gai laughs at my question for some reason.

"Oh, but you will have a couple of Voids with you. Your opponent is Ayase."

"WHAT!? FIGHTING AYASE MEANS SHE'LL BE PILOTING HER -"

"Sleep tight."

He walks into his room and shuts the door before me, leaving me alone in the corridor as I am forced to search for the jaw I dropped somewhere on the floor. I've seen that girl's Endlave in battle before, where she held ground against attacks from every flank on her own. Merely suggesting the idea of facing her solo is making me shiver.

Lord, have mercy upon me.


	17. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Survival of the Fittest

I had nightmares all night long. Thank you, Gai.

After a long night of shitty sleep, I rise to meet my untimely death as someone knocks on my door. It is still a few hours before my date with Ayase's craft, but I can already feel myself growing nervous about it.

Having Inori's sword with me makes fighting a walk in the park, but chances are I will be using other Voids instead of hers because drawing it out would either destroy part of the building or catch the Anti-Bodies' attention, if not both.

Should fortune smile upon me, I will be using Kyo's shield for protection, but engaging in melee combat would still be out of the question. While it is true that wielding a Void enhances my physical capabilities, I truly doubt I can match a machine that size.

Casting my worries aside, I open the door but then quickly step back, suddenly finding myself in a fight or flight situation due to the person who is waiting for me outside.

"Were you expecting Inori, Shu?"

It's Ayase, who has no idea she was the object of my night terrors a few hours ago.

"Ah, no. Well, sort of... it would've been nice seeing her."

I shrug my awkwardness off, thanking the Gods there's still some time before I have to face off against her. Moreover, it hits me that having made up with her yesterday was definitely a good thing – she won't be venting her anger on me anymore. My cheeks still recall the feeling of her furious slaps, but receiving those is infinitely better than having an Endlave crushing my head.

"Well, I'm sorry it's only me."

Oh. She seems offended by my previous comment. I did sound like an ass, though, so I can't blame her for feeling that way.

"I dreamt about you all night long, don't worry."

I mess with her a little in response, trying to lighten the mood.

"I- i- idiot! What are you talking about!?"

Ahhh, I got her into tsundere mode! Her reaction is too good, blushing instantly and getting flustered. Who'd have expected this? I thought she'd hit me again.

"That wasn't a good thing, you know? I talked with Gai last night, and he told me you're going to dance with me today... in your craft. Just thinking of it still gives me the shivers."

"Stupid rookie."

I don't know why, but I am filled with sense of fulfillment by Ayase's insult. Though it's very childish, I think I'm starting to grow a taste for teasing her. She and I have had an aggressive relationship since the moment we met, so keeping the fighting spirit alive seems like the natural thing to do.

Ayase isn't too amused, but I don't care. Behind that angered look, I am sure that deep inside she is having as much fun as I am. Of course, like the tsundere she has just shown herself to be, she will never admit it.

"L-let's get going, Tsugumi is waiting for us!"

If this is to be the kind of interaction we'll have from now on, I think spending time with her will be extremely entertaining. However, perhaps it'd be best not to poke too much fun at her today... I'd better stay in her good graces before the mock fight is done.

"For the physical tests, right?"

Gai mentioned Tsugumi would take a look at me, so I guess that's what we're going to do.

"That's right, so you'd better not disappoint us."

Aya-nee, you have no idea of what you are saying. A few days ago I couldn't even run for my life without losing my breath, but now I feel like I can train all day and be alright.

"I'll try; just don't get mad at me."

The inner Shu is laughing manically, but I somehow manage to act as if I were still the unconfident weakling I was before Inori pumped me up.

"I won't make any promises."

Man, Ayase is harsh. I pretend to sulk to make her feel bad, and Ayase searches for something inside her jacket in response.

"Catch!"

Whoa! She throws something at me, and I quickly react to stop it before it hits my face.

It is… an apple!

"Oh, thanks! You're too kind."

Talk about a heel face turn; she just needs to spoil me with some food to become a goddess in my eyes. Now I feel like a dog even more than last night, but I don't care: I dig into my surprise breakfast without worrying about my dignity.

The two of us head to the medical quarters without delays, as Ayase impeded me from having an excuse for stopping on the kitchen, and we quickly arrive to the room where Inori was treated yesterday.

Tsugumi is waiting for us inside, leisurely eating from a plate filled with delicious-looking sliced sandwiches. She's reading a book about field medicine, too, making me understand this girl has studied far more than I have despite the fact I've done nothing other than going to school for the past fifteen years.

"Morning, Shu. Want a bite?"

Ahhh, I love this girl. She takes the plate and presents it to me, making an offer I can't refuse. This is the second time she has given me sandwiches, which gives her a very special place in my heart.

I nod and take one of the triangular delicacies, which I immediately throw into my mouth. Ayase's apple was good, but lacked in substance, so something with heavier ingredients like Tsugumi's blessing does a better job in sating my hunger.

"Hey, this was pretty good! Did you make it?"

There is no lie in my words; I give Tsugumi my honest feedback before inquiring about whose hands are responsible for my felicity.

"Yeah, Aya helped me."

Then this means Ayase has fed me twice today.

"Really? Well, thanks again, both of you."

I include the two in my list of gratitude, bearing in mind I will not forget about this. The only person who has ever given me food before is Haruka, my only remaining family, so I think I unconsciously assigned some sentimental value to said action.

"She was really into it, you know? I normally make them myself, but Aya-nee insisted to participate, saying she wanted to know if her cooking was good enough for a certain person. She got a bit shy in the end and took only an apple, though."

Say w-

"WHAT!?"

Ayase beat me to it.

"That's totally NOT the way it was, Tsugumi! Take it back immediately!"

The devil in electronic neko ears bursts out laughing as her friend doesn't miss a beat in snapping her rebuttal. Meanwhile, I just stand there blushing awkwardly, not knowing if the midget's suggestive comment was real or just for teasing Ayase.

"You did ask me if your cooking was good! I inferred you were testing your skills before showing them to someone else, that's all!"

Damned Tsugumi is playing dumb; all of us know she said it that way deliberately, and the fact that she can't stop herself from laughing confirms it.

Ayase is as red as the apple she gave me, however, making me be quite entertained at the sight as well. I don't know if yesterday's talk with the girl in question had more impact than I had expected, but being in this situation is amusing nonetheless. If Tsugumi intends to assist me in teasing Ayase, then I won't hold anything back.

"Sh- shut up and get this started! We mustn't waste any time!"

Tomato-chan changes the subject hastily, making Tsugumi and I grow even more mischievous; the two of us are just waiting for a chance to poke fun at Ayase again.

"My, my… you're so bold, Aya-nee. You heard her, Shu; please take your clothes off."

DUDE!

"Tsugumi!?"

Ayase is blushing so hard her head might explode at any moment.

"What? I need to stick some sensors on him to monitor his vitals."

See? It's totally legit – Aya is the one having weird ideas here.

"Th- then he only needs to take his shirt off!"

Pfft, this girl minding the little details.

"Ah, right, sorry about that."

Tsugumi doesn't even try to make her apology sound like she meant it, but it doesn't matter: things will get better, as I proceed to take my shirt off so I can use my trump card.

I even got Tsugumi this time: both girls are left speechless upon seeing the effects of the Void Genome in my body. Who'd have thought about this? I never imagined I'd have the body of an athlete without even working for it; I really owe Inori big time.

"Tsugumi… I think I'm drooling over him."

Just to be an ass, I mimic Ayase's voice as if she were describing what's happening. Tomato-chan squeaks in response, jumping back in her fluster. Tsugumi, on the other hand, is laughing her ass off while I stay there using the last shred of my willpower to act serious and composed, as if nothing had happened.

Ayase snatches one of Tsugumi's sandwiches and throws it at my face before turning around and leaving the room, slamming the door behind her. The midget loses it and falls on top of the table before her, not muffling her laughter at all.

Seeing her like that gets the best of me, and I join her for a minute or two. Our throats are sore by the time we settle down, but I have no regrets: it was totally worth it, even though I'm now cleaning my food-stained face with a towel Tsugumi just lent me.

"Shu, I had no idea you were into sports."

I guess I'll be told this over and over again.

"I'm not; this is Inori's doing."

It would be poor manners not giving her all the credit, and so I do.

"Too much sex?"

I thank the Gods I'm not drinking anything right now, or else I'd have spit it all.

"Ouch!"

Tsugumi is hit by me in her forehead as she deserves.

"The Void Genome, pervert."

She's quite dirty for someone her age, enough to take the title Ayase gave to me.

"I know, I'm kidding! You barbarian, you don't have to hit me…"

Bah, it was just a soft chop with the edge of my hand.

"Ayase will make justice during the mock fight, though, all thanks to you."

I point out an inconvenient truth to make her feel better.

"All thanks to me? It was you who made her leave."

"While I was playing along with your mischief, that is."

You won't turn the tables on me, young girl.

"Alright, I'm sorry… I did go too far."

Tsugumi apologizes, but I don't believe a word.

"You helped me out with Argo quite a lot after the first incident with Ayase. Why would you have a change of spirit now?"

I voice one of my questions, since it's rather disconcerting when I think about the sudden swing in Tsugumi's attitude towards interpersonal relations. She did contribute in making Ayase mad at me again even though Gai told me she's the one who helped everyone get along, so it makes me wonder.

"It'll be easier for Ayase to accept you if we make her forget about your capture. Even though rescuing you gave us a chance to save Kenji as well, we did lose a number of soldiers because Inori disobeyed Gai.

She blames the changes in her entirely on you, and thinks that you're the one responsible of the lives that were lost that night. In a way, she is right, but I don't want her to dwell in the past and be unable to forgive you.

We must all have mutual trust to work together, after all. That's why I'm making her angry at you for reasons that are easy to fix, so you can make up with her in a day or two. This way, she'll feel as if she had gotten over the personal problems between you and her and she'll come to see you as a friend afterwards."

Wow.

"Tsugumi, you really know her very well."

"Of course I do. But well, that was only part of the reason for teasing her."

"Really? What would the rest be, then?"

The short girl grins in amusement.

"Her reactions are just too good."

We immediately share a high five, seeing there is mutual understanding between us.

"She'll still beat me up during the mock fight, though."

Unfortunately, the bleak future that awaits me cannot be denied.

"That's fun too."

Stupid midget.

She proceeds to take out a number of sensors from a nearby drawer and sticks them in several points throughout my upper body, mostly on my back and chest. While she's at it, I touch a subject I wanted to talk about with her since a while ago.

"Tsugumi, this is rather sudden, but I owe you an apology."

She looks up and meets my eyes, letting me know she's listening.

"That time with Funell, when you were repairing him, I said some mean things to you. I'm sorry about that… your son and I had some differences the day I met Inori, so I still had some anger inside of me when I learned you had made him."

Tsugumi smiles at me, showing she isn't mad at me after all. More than ever before, I realize she's pretty quick to forgive and forget; Gai was right when he said she is great at getting people befriend each other.

This is just a hunch, but I have a feeling that she'd be able to get into good terms with pretty much anyone – even if the person in question were a battle-crazed daddy boy.

"It's alright, don't worry about it. You did make me feel bad, but I guess you had your reasons for being angry at Funell."

Well, he did hit me a couple of times, but the main reason…

"It's stupid, really, because the one I should be angry at is Inori, not Funell. I fell asleep and didn't wake up when she called me, so she had your son zap my butt with electricity.

Naturally, since Inori is Inori, I couldn't be mad at her and ended up blaming Funell instead. It was my bad, no matter how we look at it, so I beg for your forgiveness again."

Tsugumi straightens up cheerfully, apparently accepting my apology.

"Then make up for it during the test! Let's go."

She slaps my back with her hand, but fortunately it doesn't hurt as much as Gai's backslap last night in the showers. Tsugumi is much smaller, after all, so it's no surprise.

Midget-san leads me through the headquarters after I put my shirt on, until we exit the building through a door somewhere in the back. We're in what I'd assume to be a sort of training grounds, since there's an open space suitable for running and physical exercise.

For the following two hours, Tsugumi coaches me in a variety of exercises and challenges, most of them which I pass with ease and higher-than-average results. The small girl examining my performance is busily writing down in an electronic notebook she brought with her, accurately recording the details of how I am doing in each and every task.

"You're way above my expectations, Shu. Well done."

She praises me once we're done with the test, during which I barely broke a sweat. This is insane; the Void Genome turned me into completely another person in a matter of days.

"Are you drooling over me as well now?"

Letting my surprise aside, I decide to experiment how Tsugumi reacts to being teased.

"Only over your body; I like it."

Oh shit! I avert my eyes from her after the impertinent reply. Of all the things I expected to hear, I never saw such an answer coming, much less in the provocative tone she used.

"In terms of performance, silly. What soldier wouldn't like having a body like that?"

Uh… right. That's totally not the way you made it sound, Tsugumi.

"Let's find Aya; she needs to overlook your training with Argo."

She redirects the conversation back to our duties, and we set off to look for the girl who will murder me later on in the day. My pulse is still racing after Tsugumi made my teasing bounce back at my face, but I should be settled down by the time we locate Ayase.

We search around without much success, and so we opt to meet with Argo first who was said to be in the headquarters' bar. I open the heavy wooden door, which is the first I've seen made of a non-metallic material, and motion Tsugumi to walk in first. Shu is a gentleman, a gentleman!

The midget thanks me with her hand and then waves happily to someone inside. I enter the room following behind her and realize that Ayase is already here, keeping the gloomy Argo some company.

"Getting drunk so early in the day, Aya-nee?"

I know I'm digging my own grave, but I can't stop myself from kidding around with her. She is, after all, having a wine glass together with the embodiment of depression, so there's not much room to blame me for pointing out how early it is to drink. The two of them are minors, even, which makes things worse.

"No, I was just discussing with Argo that you are slow to learn. He's been kind enough to suggest using an appropriate degree of rigor to make teaching you easier."

Well, fuck. She ratted on me. I should have expected it, though… she and Argo are old-time friends, so it's only natural he'll stand up for her if someone is bugging her.

"He's in excellent shape, though, so you shouldn't let your guard down."

Tsugumi intervenes, speaking in my favor. Thankfully, it seems she'll be taking my side on this one. She grins before adding:

"You can beat him up and he'll be alright anyway, so don't hold anything back."

Et tu, Tsugumi?! Traitorous wretch!

"I'll take my report to Gai now, so I'll get going. Good luck!"

She shamelessly pats my shoulder before turning and crossing the door, and I am left alone together with the macabre pair set on making me pay for my sins. This must be part of Tsugumi's scheme in making Ayase truly come to accept me, however, so I won't get mad at her for this.

Argo passes me a plastic training knife and proceeds to explain the basics of melee combat while Ayase keeps her eyes fixed on us in a good mood. After a few minutes of covering the theory, my bleak-looking instructor and I engage in battle.

I'm pissed off at Tsugumi as of now.

"You react fast, Shu, but your footwork is a mess and you don't know how to counterattack. Keep a close eye on my movements and prioritize protecting your vitals; I have stabbed you enough to have killed you a dozen times if we were using real knives."

I react fast? Argo is kicking my ass without mercy, and he is really not holding back just like the midget told him. Ayase is watching us silently and taking notes from her wheelchair, but I can see she is clearly enjoying the show. Just wait until the mock fight, young girl… you'll uh… wipe the floor with me harder by then, I guess. God damn it.

The air in my lungs is forced out by Argo's stab directly hitting my diaphragm. I stumble and fall to the ground, where I'm unable to breathe for a few seconds. Getting distracted isn't a good thing in the middle of a fight, I can see.

"Eyes on me, Shu! Ayase isn't your opponent, so don't let her break your focus."

I know, damn it! Ugh… okay, I think I'm getting better. I inhale with some difficulty and force myself to stand up, unwilling to be taken down by my opponent.

"You really can take a beating, rookie."

Ayase points out the obvious. Of course I can take a beating! She saw how much muscle I've grown with her own eyes, so she shouldn't be surprised that my resilience has rocketed sky high as well. However, that doesn't mean the experience is any less painful – Argo is making me go through hell, and there's little I can do about it.

Even if my body is stronger than his, the difference in experience between us is just impossible to surpass; I'd have to take out a Void and use it against him to win this. Naturally, I cannot do that, because I don't want Argo to be killed. This is troublesome.

"You… won't even touch me… Ayase…"

Fighting against her Endlave will be different, though, since Gai said I will have a Void or two with me. Of course, I expect I won't be allowed to use anything that would damage her craft, but the mere fact of having a Void with me makes me confident enough to talk big against her even in this situation.

Argo laughs at me in reply.

"Even I can't dodge her Endlave, boy. I really want to see you try."

We keep fighting for a while, during which Argo went even harder on me. I'm full of bruises by the time we leave the room, having sustained damage pretty much everywhere from head to toes, face included.

"See you tomorrow, Shu!"

Argo waves at me before I close the door behind me. This bastard enjoyed tormenting me with the training knife as much as the girl waiting for me in the corridor was delighted by witnessing it.

Even after all that, I opened the door for Ayase and let her pass first, so I retained my status as a gentleman, but hell was it difficult.

"Are you happy now?"

I ask the redhead an honest question.

"I'm still to have a piece of you myself, so no."

She gives me an honest reply too, not hiding at all the friendly hostility between us. I pat her head in response, messing her hair as I speak.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but you won't be getting any of that."

Pain alarmingly shoots from my wrist the very next moment, as Ayase grabbed my hand and twisted it in an odd direction before I could even react.

"Ah, ah! I get it, you win! I'm sorry! Sorry!"

She makes me bend towards her, forcing me to kneel in excruciating pain as I beg to be spared, but she doesn't let go.

"Ayase-sama, please! Show mercy!"

I helplessly slap her hand holding me, praying she will listen. She nonchalantly releases me from the wrist lock and continues rolling her wheelchair's wheels, not giving me much importance as I stand up and follow behind her.

Hell, my bones and ligaments are all wrecked now …

She guides me to the shooting range without further ado, and we meet with Inori who is already waiting for us there. Good Lord, she's wearing a black dress with a cross-shaped string in the middle, which has a cute-looking ribbon right below her left breast. The band passing beneath and also right in the middle of her chest pushes her glorious graces a bit upward, making them even more visible than they normally are.

"Morning, Inori."

"Afternoon, Shu."

Ah, it's this late already? Time went so fast I didn't even feel it. We exchange greetings, but Ayase prevents us from chit-chatting.

"Is everything ready to commence training, Inori?"

INORI NODS! Dear God, it had been so long since I last saw her do that, so it hits me harder than it normally would.

I walk towards my girlfriend and quickly catch her scent, distracting me for a moment of sweet intoxication. Hell, she smells way too good… her scent is for my nose what her nodding is for my eyes; I just can't get enough of it.

Inori shows me an unloaded gun and explains how to use it.

"Load the magazine like this and push it until you hear it lock; you can release it later by pressing this button here. Load the bullets one at a time and make sure you put the flat side of the bullet against this side of the mag.

Remove the gun safety and pull the slide to chamber a round. Remember to place your right hand on the gun and hold it as tight as possible; your hand mustn't shake. Position your body like this, forming a pyramid with your strong foot in front and your pelvis turned forty five degrees.

Lean your shoulders forward over your toes, then aim at the target through the front sight and pull the trigger without moving the gun's muzzle. If you do it all correctly, you should be able to do this."

She proceeds to demonstrate the final product of her tutoring and…

Girl, there is no way in hell I'll ever do that. Inori just fired all eighteen rounds one after another at the target hanging twenty meters away from us, and all of the bullets hit either in the center of its head or its chest.

"Just as you'd expect of her in this kind of situation."

Ayase says something scary. So Inori has always been this talented at killing things?

"I want you to aim to meet the same standards."

Aya-nee is asking for the impossible, and she knows it.

"Here."

Inori gives me the unloaded gun and a new magazine. I follow her instructions to reload it, carefully pointing the muzzle towards the shooting area all the time and then stand in the same position as Inori showed me.

She quickly stops me before I shoot, however.

"Wrong. If you do that, your hand will get skinned on the slide."

Inori closes the distance between us and – sweet Jesus, don't stop – presses my favorite part of her body against my back as she reaches for my hands from behind me.

"Your thumb should be over here…"

God, I'm melting. Inori moved my finger somewhere else on the gun, but I don't have the composure to pay attention; I'm just enjoying the moment with a stupid look on my face.

"Inori… leave some space for the Holy Spirit, please."

Ayase spoils the heavenly experience, making Inori take a step back to let me fire. I take a few shots at a new target, missing the first few bullets, but I eventually land one in its belly. It's far from a perfect hit, but at least it's something.

I empty the rest of the magazine and feel ashamed at my results, having succeeded in digging only four of the eighteen bullets anywhere in the paper.

Inori gives me an empty mag so I can practice loading it. I leave the gun on the table to fulfill my new task, but the little fight with Ayase starts taking its toll on me.

"What's wrong?"

Inori notices I am rubbing my wrist.

"Ah, I got hurt a while ago."

I explain the situation, not saying why or how. Inori takes my hand and looks at my wrist, which is a bit swollen by now. Ayase did go pretty hard on me, after all.

Both Ayase and I are left speechless as Inori brings my injured wrist, hand included, towards her chest to embrace it tenderly.

"Are you in pain, Shu?"

I have difficulty in answering, as the softness is clouding my mind, but I think I manage to say a word or two.

"Y- yeah… a little."

With my hand still against her chest, Inori takes a step forward and wraps her arms around me in an affectionate hug that shows just how much she is in love with me. I was entirely taken by surprise by the sudden turn of events, however, so I stand there like an idiot not knowing what to do.

Ayase clears her throat audibly, making Inori realize what she's doing. She lets go, blushing, and gives me a box full of bullets so I can resume reloading the magazine.

Shooting practice continues swiftly for an hour or two, until Ayase finally calls it a day and tells me it's time to meet up with Ogumo for heavy weapons training. Inori joins us this time, however, so the three of us make way to his place in one of the upper floors.

Inori takes my hand shortly after we leave the shooting range, and I hold hers in return. Ayase throws an ugly look at me, but I ignore her and continue walking as we are. Our fingers intertwine in each other, and the softness of her skin makes me forget about the pain still present in most of my body after Argo's and Ayase's beating.

As we grow closer to Ogumo's quarters, something enters my head.

"Where did Ogumo come from? Gai told me about how the Funeral Parlor came to be, but he didn't mention Ogumo anywhere in the story."

I ask Ayase, partly to let her know I was told about her past and also to touch a subject I hadn't dug into before. Ogumo looks like he's an important member of the Parlor, so I am kind of interested about his origins.

"He has been working with Shibungi ever since we got to know them. Ogumo used to be only a regular member of the Undertakers, but he rose in rank after the Funeral Parlor was formed and he's been in charge of everything related to heavy arms for years."

And there it goes; my thirst for knowledge has been quenched for the time being.

Or well… not really. I sneak a peek at Inori and remember that I still have no idea of how she wound up becoming a soldier. I am tempted to ask for a moment, but refrain from doing so in the end; Triton told me I'd better wait until either he or she told me. Inori doesn't mention anything about herself either, so I think staying ignorant for a while longer is best for the time being.

We reach Ogumo's room and knock on the door.

"Welcome; come on in."

He opens and motions us to enter without saying much. He's a man of few words, as far as I can tell, so dealing with him shouldn't be too troublesome. I've had a good share of experience in being wrong at judging people, like how I initially dealt with Argo very well to then get my ass kicked by him during training, but I don't think I'm wrong in saying Ogumo is quiet and usually keeps things to himself.

We walk inside his room, which is filled with all sorts of armament ranging from knives all the way to rocket launchers. This guy is a military enthusiast, I can see that. His bed is right there on the side, so it confirms that we really are in his sleeping room and not in a kind of storage or anything of the sorts.

"This might be a little heavy."

He approaches me, offering a very bulky portable missile launcher. A few days ago I'd have collapsed from tying to hold it, but I think now it should be a piece of cake.

I take it from his hands, sadly letting go of Inori, and confirm that I can carry it without problem. I turn to face Inori to brag a little about my strength, and see her looking at her now-empty hand, which she is slowly closing and opening again and again. I can guess she misses holding mine, because I miss hers too.

"So how is this guy, Ogumo?"

Ayase asks the behemoth of a man for his opinion.

"He shows promise."

My heavy arms instructor gives his approval, making Ayase clap lightly at me with pride.

"Not bad at all, rookie. If you made Ogumo say that, you might as well be ready for me."

For once, Ayase says something positive about me. It seems her anger is gone.

"Shu is the strongest of all of us."

Inori voices her own opinion, making the rest of us turn our eyes to her. She said it with so much conviction nobody dares to say otherwise.

"That's thanks to you, Inori; my strength is yours."

I simply can't stand giving off the impression that I am powerful by my own accord, so I give Inori the credit again. I feel like I'd be corrupted if I became drunk in the Void Genome, so I'll be humble and state the reality just the way it is as much as I need to.

"Hey, don't get lovey-dovey on us. Rookie, go back to the guns! Inori, you sit there."

Ayase interrupts us, as we were both looking into each other's eyes like the couple we are.

We obey my heartless supervisor who has never had a boyfriend before and continue with my training. Ogumo explains to me about the different types of weapons and their uses, covering the main points about machine guns, submachine guns, shotguns, grenades, rocket launchers and explosive devices.

This time we see only theory, however, as Ogumo says he'd rather wait for me to get used to firing small arms before I move to larger weapons. We spend two or three hours with him and then walk to the dining room all of us together for a much needed meal.

Fortunately, food has already been prepared by other Funeral Parlor members, so all we have to do is pick the dishes we want and take a seat. I grab a bowl of oden and a generous portion of rice, while Inori takes only, of all things, a bunch of onigiri.

"You aren't having anything else?"

I ask her, curious as of why she didn't pick any of the more elaborate dishes available.

"They remind me of you."

I dig into my food, partly to hide my embarrassment and partly to dodge Ayase's killer gaze upon hearing Inori's reason. My supervisor seems to be pretty mad at me for going out with her, but I don't know why. Triton was interested in her, but now that I've taken her from him then he's free for Ayase to make her move; she should be glad instead!

Unless Tsugumi's misleading comments aren't so misled after all... That would definitely be bad – I'm only messing with Ayase for fun, so I don't have feelings for her because I belong to Inori and no one else. Ah, shit, what should I do? If things appear to be going bad, I'll have to ask Tsugumi whether I've made a terrible mistake or not.

We finish our meal and part ways with Ogumo, who never showed any reaction whatsoever about the closeness between Inori and me. At least he's discrete about what he thinks, unlike a certain person.

Said certain person leads Inori and me to the kitchen so we leave our dishes in the automatic washer, and then guides us to the library used for mission briefings.

We reach the place and enter to find there are already a few people inside: Gai, Shibungi, Tsugumi and Kyo are discussing something in the middle of the room.

"Shu! We were talking about you!"

Kyo greets me cheerfully, waving her hand high above her head.

"Tsugumi says you did well on the physical tests. How did the rest go, Ayase?"

Gai elaborates before asking for my supervisor's report.

"Not bad for his first day, but he still has much to learn."

Well, I did best with Tsugumi when Ayase wasn't watching, so it's natural she'd say something along those lines.

"Is he truly ready for a mock battle, Gai?"

Shibungi questions him, as he seems to be in doubt of my abilities.

"Yes; there is no risk in doing it at all. He needs as much field experience as possible before our next deployment, so pitting him against Ayase should do the trick."

My old friend replies confidently, but his answer makes me worry as he claims there is no danger in having a duel against an Endlave.

"Uh, Gai… how will the battle be? I could be killed if things go wrong, and there's the chance I might damage Ayase's Endlave if I use a Void against it."

Saying he'll make me fight that beast of a machine is one thing, but actually putting the plan into practice is entirely another. I really doubt Gai is insane enough to suggest the idea without having card hidden for use, so I ask for him to enlighten me.

"We'll be using Tsugumi's Void."

Hmm… I've never seen that before.

"W-whoa, mine?"

For the first time, I see Tsugumi get nervous.

"Yes; it is the most appropriate one for this situation. Draw it out and you'll understand."

Gai declares so confidently, but I still don't see how we'll balance out the potential danger for both sides by using her Void.

"Um… Tsugumi, can I?"

I ask for her permission before I proceed, since I do have to place my hand on her chest to reach her soul. That's another good point about the Power of the King, I guess. Hell, Shu, stop thinking that - there'd better not be a Void for telepathy or Inori will kill you for this.

"W- well, okay… go on."

Tsugumi puffs her chest out to me, looking away in shyness.

"Sorry about this, but I need to see your eyes."

"A- ah! Alright… okay…"

She looks at me reluctantly. Now that I think about it, this must be difficult for her – staring into a guy's eyes as he puts his hand so close to her breasts. I place my palm a bit above to avoid feeling anything, but the soft sensation is still there in the lower corners of my hand. Sorry, girl, I can't avoid it.

Light immediately erupts as I summon her spirit to materialize, but just like it was with Kyo, there is no violent reaction to wreck our surroundings. I think only weapon-type Voids go out of control the way it happened when I took mine and Gai's, since I draw Tsugumi's Void without any trouble.

And in my hands lies a… what is this thing? It looks like a magical girl's wand. Information about the Void quickly flows into me, however, telling me such isn't the case. Hey, this is cool! Now I understand why I always know what a Void does the moment I wield it: the Void itself tells me about its abilities.

I was only aware about them unconsciously before, as I couldn't feel the data entering my brain, but I think now that the Void Genome has mixed well enough with my body, I can use its power to a much greater extent.

And holy Jesus is Tsugumi's Void obscene even among other Voids. This thing should be made illegal and sealed away; it's just way too powerful.

"Shu? What does my Void do?"

I laugh ominously, showing Gai I now understand why he wanted me to use this thing.

"Prepare yourself, Sendo Tsugumi… behold!"

I point the wand-shaped Void at her, scaring her shitless, and immediately activate it. Purple light shines from it at the same time as dozens of silver threads swirl around its radiance. I take it down to the ground and slowly raise it, revealing how a human form starts taking shape from feet to head.

In the end, an exact copy of Sendo Tsugumi is standing before me, looking eye-to-eye with the original. The copy slowly turns to face me and starts fiddling with her fingers, looking like there's something she wants to say but can't bring herself to.

"Um… Shu…"

And the copy speaks to me.

"Y- yes?"

I reply nervously, and everyone's eyes are set on the clone and me.

"You… were very cool back then."

Tsugumi is turning red by the second as the clone keeps talking in an extremely suggestive tone, heavily hinting there is deep meaning in its words.

"Could we do another physical test? A little bit with more detail this time…"

All of us react this time the clone speaks, even Inori, but Tsugumi herself explodes.

"WHAT IS MY VOID DOING, OUMA SHU!?"

Man is she flustered!

"I – I don't know! I was aware it would make a clone, but I had no idea it would behave like this… I think it speaks the honest feelings of its owner!"

The face of Tsugumi is filled with shock and horror more than I had imagined possible. Inori steps between the clone and me, spreading her arms to block the way.

"Th- there is no need for that! You've examined Shu close enough!"

Holy God, Inori is facing off against it, blushing just as much as Tsugumi is.

"But Inori, this is really necessary, I need to do it!"

The clone is sulking very childishly, making Tsugumi cover her face with her hands. I turn over to Ayase to see how she's doing and the sight nearly kills me: her jaw is dropped wide open, and her eyes are filled with nothing but pure disbelief.

"No, you don't! Shu is mine."

Boy, that escalated quickly. Inori firmly declares I'm her property before turning around and hugging me to show how close we are.

"Come on, Inori, please! Polygamy is well-seen in some cultures, did you know?"

Tsugumi loses it, screaming and charging against the clone, bringing it to the ground. The two fight a little, but the original emerges victorious and forces the copy into submission, covering its mouth with both hands to prevent any more words from being spoken.

Gai walks to me and smacks the back of my head.

"Cut it off already."

I rub the pain away as he tells me it's been enough.

"Ah, come on, just a little more."

This was just getting fun, so I protest.

"Wh- what are you talking about?"

Tsugumi looks up to us from the floor, still pinning the copy down with all her might.

"Shu is mentally controlling the clone; he's making it say everything it has said."

I think I should start running just about now. I turn around to flee for my life, but somehow I've already been captured before I even start. My arm is locked in a tight hold behind my back, and I feel like it might break if any more strength is applied.

"ROOKIE YOU BASTARD!"

Ayase is restraining me, and it hurts like the living hell, but I still break out laughing like the asshole I am. The real Tsugumi gets up in an instant and rushes to me, but Inori stops her from reaching me.

"INORI, LET ME THROUGH! AREN'T YOU MAD AT HIM TOO!?"

Tsugumi is enraged, screaming at my girlfriend to let her kill me.

"I knew what your Void was all along."

Everyone in the room is left speechless. Ayase even released me from the hold without noticing, so I take a step or two away from her while I have the chance, but I don't really care – Inori just said she always knew that I was the one messing with Tsugumi.

"Inori can see Voids like I do; it's no surprise."

Mother of Jesus. I had already knew that Gai could see Voids, since he always knows which one I must use before I even draw it for the first time, but he's now saying Inori can do the same thing. This is news, and very intense ones at that.

All of us are dumbstruck except for Inori, Shibungi, and Gai. Silence reigns for a moment.

"Inori… so you were helping Shu in pranking Tsugumi?"

Kyo breaks the arctic ice at last, snapping us back to our senses.

"I'm his girlfriend; of course I did."

Inori's resolute answer makes a single manly tear flow out of my right eye.

Tsugumi gets up, goes to a corner and crawls into fetal position. I'd normally feel bad about it, but I can't help it this time: as of this moment, I know I have the best girlfriend I could ever possibly dream of, and it makes me so damned proud I don't wipe the manly tear away no matter how much of a pussy it might make me look like.

Ayase strolls her wheelchair to Tsugumi and the two of them stay there, the latter comforted by the former. Kyo is still unable to close her mouth from the shock, and only the three who already knew about Inori's Void-seeing ability retain their composures.

Kyo struggles to recover, and manages to say a single sentence.

"You got yourself a perfect girlfriend, Ouma Shu."

I take a breath, having a difficult time in doing so because of the knot forming in my throat. Inori wipes the manly tear herself with her finger before planting a kiss on my cheek with her beautiful and soft lips. And then she hugs me.

"I know I did."

I admit the truth, finding it impossible to say anything else. Without even being asked to, the girl holding onto my arm assisted me in exacting vengeance from Tsugumi for having made Argo beat me up as much as he did. No words exist in any language, terrestrial or divine, to accurately describe just how much more I have fallen for Inori this day.

Gai clears his throat, telling us to cut it off once more.

"Back to the mission, everyone. Tsugumi, come here! Tsugumi? No, it's fine, stay there if you need to. Shu; Kyo and I are going to leave for a few hours. We need to meet with the remnants of the Undertakers; they are going to join us for the deployments we'll do the following weeks.

You are to stay here for the mock battle with Ayase, and will use Tsugumi's Void on yourself to avoid being injured. If the clone gets killed it will just disappear, so you can face off against Ayase as many times as you need by creating another one.

Just remember not to use anything that would damage her craft; it's a new model we cannot replace, so you'd better be careful not to wreck it. I expect good results of you, so you'd better win, understood?"

He explains the situation to me, but I have a question.

"What are my victory conditions?"

If I can't harm the Endlave, then there must be a way other than destroying it.

"You will do several battles with different objectives, such as getting to a certain location, recovering an item or merely staying alive for a certain period of time. I've told Shibungi all of the details; he will explain them to you."

I turn to see Shibungi, who isn't very amused by how blatantly I misused Tsugumi's Void. It was a chance too good to be wasted, though, so I don't regret it at all… much less after what happened with Inori because of it.

Agh, I'm getting a knot on my throat again. Stop it, Shu! No more manly tears! Think of something else, like Ayase pissed off. Fuck! That makes me want to cry too. I'm done for.

"There's a degree of risk in us leaving the installations, however, so I will request of you to draw my Void in case we are detected."

Gai keeps explaining, and I walk towards him. Inori is still holding onto my right arm, so I extend the left one to Gai's chest. I have never tried drawing a Void out with this hand, though, so I don't know if it's going to work.

Ah, wait! Gai's Void goes crazy when I take it out; we need open space.

"Shall we go outside? To draw your Void, that is."

I ask, since unleashing such a weapon in here might be quite inconvenient.

"No; just draw it carefully. We were very tense back then, so our Voids were restless, but if you take it out slowly in here it won't do any damage."

Really? I still doubt I can unsheathe Inori's sword without blasting off a part of the building, but if Gai says his is alright then I'll believe him. Placing my left hand on his chest and looking into his eyes, I extend my senses to feel inside of him and notice that, like he said, his Void is way more tranquil than it was in the GHQ's base.

I grip it and pull it carefully, bringing it into existence without losing dominion over its power. Gai takes it from me and points it at Kyo.

Wait, what?!

He opens fire at her.

I'm about to draw my Void out to fight against him for killing Kyo, but what happens before me makes me stop immediately. Her shield pops out of her ironing board, as if I had summoned it to emerge myself.

Kyo grasps it with one hand and shows me a v-finger gesture with the other one.

"Can your Void draw other Voids, Gai?"

That's the only logical assumption I can make, but I ask him anyway.

"Pretty useful, isn't it?"

Fucking insane, if he asks me.

"The battle is scheduled to be in three hours, so you should get some rest beforehand."

Shibungi cuts into our conversation, telling me I should replenish some strength after training during all of the morning.

"We have to get going too, Shu. We'll be back by nightfall, so you'd better have a good tale about the mock fight for our reinforcements."

Gai offers me his fist, which I meet with my own like a good brother.

"Take care out there, both of you."

I speak to both Kyo and Gai, who will undoubtedly be doing something risky in a few hours. Bringing mercenary soldiers into the city mustn't be an easy task, so I wish the best of luck for them inside my heart.

"I'll be there for Gai; you don't need to worry about a thing."

I've seen the two of them in battle before, though, so I'm sure they can make it by themselves. Even if things go bad, he can call for me to be deployed and Inori's Void will wreak havoc on the Anti-Bodies again shortly afterwards.

I turn to leave the library together with Inori, but a voice calls behind me.

"Hey Shu! I'm still placing my bets on you, so don't dare to disappoint me! I want to hear of your victory when I get back."

Kyo cheers on me, going as far as taking the side of the man who left one of her oldest comrades curled up in a corner. Now that I look back into the room, I can see Tsugumi and Ayase are still there recovering after my little adventure with the clone.

Man, I'm too mean with them. This sucks, too, since I no longer have Tsugumi's Void with me – I think Ayase took it from me while she restrained me, for I don't recall having dropped it or given it back to its owner.

The clone has vanished, too, with means the magical girl wand must be back in Tsugumi's chest. Holy shit… I hope she'll let me take it out again… I hadn't taken this scenario into consideration when I did the prank.

Inori pulls me to continue moving forward, so I go with her. She takes the lead and guides me through the installations, until we stop before her room's door. She proceeds to open it and walks in, taking me together with her. She locks the door after we enter.

Um…

"Inori? What are we doing?"

She pulls me closer to her bed and pushes me into it. The back of my knees hit against its edge, so they bend and I end up sitting on the mattress. Inori sits on top of me and pushes me down with her hands against my shoulders, leaving the cross-shaped lace in her dress and the pair of beauties accompanying it hanging right over my face.

"I'll help you warm up."

I've got a boner.

"What is thy bidding, my master?"

Ouma Shu has just become a little bee at the mercy of his Queen.

"Take your shirt off."

She was right; I am her property as of now. She's just stolen my soul away, and I obediently do as I am told. Inori gets off me and walks to her drawer chest, where she rumbles through her things until she finds a little box.

"That is…?"

She wouldn't have of those, would she?

"Protection."

Man, I'm getting laid. Oh boy, oh boy.

"Turn around, please. Face down."

Immediately, my love. I do as Inori tells me to let her do as she pleases with me. It should be the other way around, but since she was the one who took the initiative right from the start then I'll let her keep it for today. It'll be my turn next time.

Inori sits on top of my butt, making me smile stupidly as I get to feel hers. She presses her hands against my back, and I notice they are covered in something cold and slippery. I have no idea what it is, but it feels good, so I don't care.

She proceeds to perform a soothing massage, relieving me from the lingering pain resulting from my training with Argo. Good Lord, she's extremely good at this. My muscles loosen and relax only a couple of minutes after Inori commenced her treatment, and I feel as if Aphrodite herself were personally giving me the blessing of the Gods.

Inori's soft fingers guide the palm of her hands through my upper body, and I can do naught but melt into the bed from the waves of sheer pleasure flowing to my brain. I'm near the other side of Heaven's gate when Inori calls to me, bringing me back to reality.

"Shu."

She calls me again, seeing I did not react the first time.

"Inori?"

"I'll get a towel so you can turn around."

I nod in response, telling her she's free to do with me whatever she wants. Said and done, she comes to me with a towel and motions me to sit up. I do and help her place it on top of the bed sheets, which makes me realize the thing she had covered her hands with was some sort of massage oil.

"What is this?"

My hand reaches for the box she'd taken out of her drawer, but find there's nothing written on it so I'm still entirely ignorant about its contents.

"Medicine; Shibungi gave it to me. It's good for your skin and it eases your pain."

Wait, so she meant this by protection?

Holy Jesus. I was about to think 'what a letdown' as I lay down, yet Inori sits on top of me again but now pressing against a certain part of my body that gets very happy about it.

She applies more of the oil on her hands and presses them against my chest, reaching all the way to my neck and then going down to my belly. Inori keeps massaging the rest of my upper body for a couple of minutes, arms and hands included.

The mere feeling of having Inori on top of me touching me everywhere is otherworldly; I think I have never had a more pleasurable experience in my life. Just the place where Inori is sitting makes it all even better, and all I can do is sinking on the towel as my mind ebbs into the sea of satisfaction brought about by her hands.

I think I hear a voice saying my name.

"Shu?"

Ah, it's the Goddess calling to me.

I can't even speak, so I just make a noise with my throat to tell her I'm listening.

"What's this?"

Oh. She's just noticed the pole poking against her, as she wriggles on top of it curiously.

I doubt Inori has had a normal education, so I've come to wonder… has anyone taught her about sex? I can teach her here and now, but I think it would be rushing things far more than I really should.

"It means I love you, Inori."

Ahhh, I'm too soft. Not my thing, but me as a person; I'll be a good boy and let Inori keep her innocence until I see she's ready to grow up. The girl in question is very set on making me go crazy, though, as she lays down me and deliciously presses her lips against mine.

This is the first time we've kissed. No, scratch that – this is the first time I've ever kissed anyone… other than Mana, but she doesn't count. Or does she? What's this? The sensation is identical. Fucking shit, what the hell is going on?

Inori keeps kissing me, and I enjoy it like I've never enjoyed anything before, but her lips feel just way too familiar. However, I'm already too into the mood to stop just because of this, especially since I know Inori and Mana are different people, but for a moment I can't shake the feeling that something is very wrong in here.

In the end the moment gets the best of me, and Inori and I keep kissing each other for God knows how long. Both of us are made a mess by the time we stop; our clothes are covered with massage oil and our lips are rather swollen from so much use.

Inori's hair is entirely undone, too, as I took the liberty of caressing it with my hand while we exchanging our affection, and I can bet mine is in no way any better than hers.

My pants aren't very clean, either, so I really must go and change my clothes before the mock fight begins. Damn it, I don't even know what time it is – we could've been here in her room for half the day and I would've not noticed at all.

"It's almost time."

Inori confirms my fear as she looks at her clock over the drawer chest.

"I'll go get changed."

Hastening to put my shirt back on, I tell Inori I'll be heading to my room.

"So will I."

Well, she's taken notice as well of how we look. Her clothes are a bit undone as well because of my mischievous hands exploring her upper half, so I'm beginning to feel somewhat guilty. I said I'd go slowly with this matter, but Inori was simply too tempting for me to hold everything back.

There was no sex, like I promised, but let's just say I got to learn a lot about Inori's anatomy, especially her chest. Yes, it was every bit as awesome as I had imagined.

I'm fully clothed once again and prepare to leave the room so Inori can change, but she calls to me with her hand.

"Wait for me, I won't take long."

Uh… what?

Ooooh…

Ohhhh!

My eyes!

Beauty overload, JESUS!

Inori takes her dress off in front of me, letting me see her in her enthralling pink underwear. I thank the Gods Inori didn't do that while we were kissing, for my willpower would have been instantly shattered had she shown her perfect body to me back then.

She takes out a white set of clothes and puts it on without delays. She turns to me so I can see her and I am immediately marveled by her looks. Her hair is still messy, but the white outfit with an – oh God, why – extremely generous cleavage takes my breath away.

I struggle hard not to get her back to the bed again, and calmly walk to the door instead. Both of us go through the corridor headed to my room, and we pass by several Parlor members along the way. Fortunately, my pants are pitch-black and therefore hide very well the horrible stains done by my body's eagerness to reproduce.

I open the door to my room and… Inori follows behind me. Well, shit.

She changed in front of me, so I guess she expects me to do the same. Uh… I have no choice, I guess; I'd feel like a failure of a man if I asked her to turn away when she clearly has no qualms about seeing me naked.

Fortune smiles upon me brightly enough to make it so that a clean uniform is inside one of my drawers, so I take it out and unclothe myself as Inori keeps her eyes fixed on me.

"I'll change my underwear too… you don't mind?"

She did leave some clothes on her, so I warn her to avoid any surprises. Inori shakes her head, telling me it's okay to proceed, so I man up and strip off the last of my outfit. I can see my girlfriend is blushing, but she doesn't part her eyes from me for even a moment.

I go the washroom and clean myself a little with the ruined underwear, making a mental note that I must either wash or pulverize them with my Void before someone else finds them as they are. I proceed to wash my hands and then walk back to the room.

I put on the clean set of clothes afterwards, with Inori watching me in silence all the time.

Once I'm ready and set to leave, I walk to my girlfriend and motion her that we're leaving.

"You're handsome."

Hnng! My heart! This girl will kill me someday by saying those things.

I nervously gulp my saliva down without looking at her, shied away by her words. We're a couple now, but she still gets to me when she talks like this.

"You're very beautiful too, Inori… I love you."

Though I should have said this when she was the one changing, it's better to be late than keeping it to myself forever. Inori locks her arm on mine as we resume walking, and we leisurely make way to the indoors battlefield. Inori knows how to get there, so I let her take the lead and just enjoy her company as we take a stroll through the stony building.

The place is full of people gathered in the sidelines, and in the middle of them all is a majestic white Endlave I had never seen before. Shibungi is standing right beside it, inspecting it up close, so move close to him to talk.

"Where did you get this?"

"We didn't steal only transports from the Anti-Bodies."

The Parlor's second in command doesn't waste any opportunities, I see.

"Is this my opponent?"

It's the only Endlave in the place, so I already fear for the worst.

"Ayase needs to get used to piloting it, so yes."

This is funny, actually. Endlaves are controlled remotely, since the pilot is plugged to a terminal stationed in a safe place so they don't get killed if their craft is destroyed. The thing is I'll be fighting by using a clone that I can telepathically control, so the two of us will be using some form of avatar to represent us.

Of course, it's unfair that Ayase has a big-ass robot while I have only a squishy copy of myself, but that's just the way life goes…

As I think of this, someone pokes on my shoulder, asking me to look behind. I turn around as requested and find myself standing before an angry-as-hell Tsugumi, arms crossed over her chest as she looks at me with threatening eyes.

"Oh… hi."

I don't know what else to say, so I just spew whatever crosses my mind first and pray for the best. It doesn't work, as I should've expected, and Tsugumi pokes her finger at me without showing any improvement in her aggressive demeanor.

"You've declared war on me, Ouma Shu. I won't let you off the hook easily."

Uh oh. She's pissed, very badly. I knew I was asking for trouble, but I think I went kind of overboard by abusing her Void the way I did. Ah, damn it, I should've thought about the potential trouble my prank could've caused for me… I've just destroyed what little friendship I had with Ayase and Midget-chan.

Nah, who am I kidding? I'd do it again if I had the chance.

"Hey, you did have Argo mop the floor with me this morning. Can't we call it even?"

I present a valid argument, making her notice I am not the only one who has performed hostile acts in this conflict. What she doesn't know is that Argo's beating led directly to Inori showing me Heaven on Earth, but there's no need to tell her about it.

Tsugumi gives me a cold and long stare before speaking again.

"This isn't over yet, just so you know. Get ready for a little fun tomorrow, Ouma-kun."

Hey, why is she calling me the same way Scarface did? This is scary. I don't like it!

"Shu isn't alone, though."

Ahhh, Inori! She openly states she is on my side in this, letting Tsugumi know I won't be without allies during the prank war that is about to break out.

"That's good; I have Aya-nee with me. We will see just what you are made of, Inori."

Analyzing the troops' layout more closely I can discern Argo is also with them, but the possibility exists that I might succeed in adding Kyo to my ranks. That would make it a six-person conflict, just enough to kill all the boredom that might be preying upon me.

"That's enough, the three of you. Let's commence with the battle at once."

Shibungi is no fun, but he is doing the right thing. Tsugumi reluctantly lets me take her Void out once again, with which I form a clone of myself to use in the mock fight.

Inori looks at me, then at the clone and back to me again. She is smiling.

"There are two of you."

I don't know if any weird ideas have just crossed her mind, but if that is the case then I might have to come up with a way to draw this Void again without Tsugumi noticing. There's no way in hell she'd let me use it for misbehaving with my girl, so I have to be stealthy, but sneaking up to her while she sleeps would be plain creepy.

Besides, taking a Void out is extremely flashy, so she'd wake up in an instant. Well, this is a true challenge for my creativity, so I'll ponder about it after the fight is done.

I take a seat together with Inori in the sidelines, and close my eyes to concentrate in moving the clone with as much precision as I can. This thing is practically an extension of me, so if I put my mind into it I can move it as if it were my own body, but it still feels weird as hell to be practically in two places at the same time.

The white Endlave before my clone shows signs of movement, telling me Ayase is already in command. The machine's speaker can be heard opening the voice channel, confirming my assumptions.

"You have hell to pay, rookie. Any last words?"

Man, Ayase is asking for it.

"Totally worth it!"

My clone delivers. I expected immediate rebuttal, but Ayase stays quiet. This gives me the shivers far worse than any reply could possibly have.

"You are to survive for one minute, just to see how you can fare against her. This scenario assumes you have only a submachine gun and you can't draw your Void out or else a Leukocyte will be fired upon you.

Both the Endlave and your weapon are loaded with paint bullets, but you should still refrain from firing at the other people watching. Treat them as if they were civilians and avoid harming them to the best of your ability.

Any questions?"

Um, just one.

"How do I use that?"

I point at the paintball submachine gun Shibungi is holding, since Ogumo conveniently skipped the practice of how to use one of these. Was this Ayase's doing? Damn it.

Shibungi gives my clone a quick explanation, which is relayed to me via the Void's telepathic link connecting us, and I'm ready to roll. My impromptu instructor walks towards the sidelines where everyone else is seated and takes the microphone for the numerous speakers placed throughout the enclosed column-filled perimeter.

"Fight!"

My clone dies. Shibungi signals the battle's start, and Ayase shoots my avatar down with a single merciless flurry of paint bullets; I don't even have time to take one step. Hell, my clone's damage was so extensive that it even vanished and I'm forced to make another one from scratch.

Round two begins with me taking cover behind a column, but Ayase proceeds to close in on my doll and squashes it like a bug in a matter of seconds. She didn't even open fire with her gun – it was unnecessary, with the gap of strength between us being so huge.

Needless to say, I have to create a third and then a fourth clone, all of them doomed to meet a fate similar to their predecessors'. I understand now that not only is Ayase extremely mad at me, but she is also exceptionally good at piloting that thing.

"How do you like my new Steiner, rookie?"

"Totally worth it!"

She kills my fifth clone not even waiting for Shibungi to give the signal. Damn it, her craft is so fast I can't even do anything in response.

"Kill 'Em All Daryl must still be throwing a tantrum for this."

Tsugumi talks through the Endlave's speaker, mocking someone I do not know. I assume he's the Endlave's former owner; probably a high-ranking Anti-Body.

"Hey, Shibungi, can I start using Voids already? My clones will just keep getting killed if I have nothing more than a gun I can't even fire properly."

Inori taught me that Endlaves can be fought against to some extent with regular firearms, like that time she destroyed one of the crafts' sight system when we were being chased outside the tunnel, but my current skill in using conventional weapons is simply too low to make much of a difference.

"Yes; the following scenarios will be done assuming you are utilizing the Voids you've previously stored inside your own. Start using Kenji's void; he awoke a few hours ago."

Hey, really? I haven't talked to him yet, so Shibungi took the trouble of informing me that wielding his anti-gravity gun is entirely viable. The young grey-haired boy Argo rescued from prison walks to me as per Shibungi's orders, and offers his chest to me.

"Hey, Kenji. I'm Shu; pleased to meet you."

I offer my hand first for introductions, but Kenji doesn't care and just stares back at me.

"Take my Void and get this over with."

Whoa, touchy. He doesn't strike me like a very social type, so I guess we won't get along too well. Tsugumi is unlikely to intervene for the following few days, so I can consider my relations with him as good as dead.

I look into his eyes and draw the Void as he said, not paying much mind to the tension between us. He's the one being an ass this time, so my part in keeping formalities has already been fulfilled.

After making a sixth clone, I try to equip it with my own Void but fail in doing so. It seems a mere doll made in my image won't be able to reproduce the Power of the King, after all, so I have no choice but to fire at it with Kenji's Void to liberate it from gravity's pull.

Shibungi signals the fight's start and things get pretty fun this round: being released from the gravitational field's shackles, my clone is free to move everywhere with extreme ease simply by jumping and using the roof and columns to attack Ayase from otherwise impossible angles.

She has a much more difficult time chasing my avatar this time, but eventually guns it down with her paint bullets. I do get to land a bunch of paintballs on her craft myself, though, which is a feat I had been previously unable to do in abundance.

We repeat the same scenario a couple of times and get the same result as Ayase grows used to my movement patterns and limitations, so Shibungi quickly adds another Void to my repertoire: Argo's.

I walk to him this time and excuse myself to grab his chest, from which I extract a cylindrical Void shaped as some kind of flashlight. Its spiritual feedback tells me I can create a sphere of darkness with it, so I can potentially disrupt Ayase's field of vision with it in case I am cornered.

During the first match I avoid using Kenji's void, so Ayase forgets a little about how I move with it, and use my new weapon in abundance to piss Ayase off like there's no tomorrow, just being careful not to blind her when she's moving towards everyone else watching from the sidelines.

Ayase herself is holding back now, as she's looking not to damage Argo's Void while the clone and her craft are in combat, so being put up against her is slowly becoming easier. Repeating the fights has made me get used to her Endlave's speed and movement possibilities, so little by little I get to last for longer periods of time and fulfill more objectives indicated by Shibungi.

I eventually resume using Kenji's Void, giving my clone the liberty of flying around while spamming the use of Argo's Void. Ayase is finally finding herself in serious difficulty to catch me, and after a very evenly-matched battle I succeed in landing a burst of my paint bullets right in her sight system.

That marks my first win of the day, much to everyone's amazement; I am even given a long round of applause by most of the guys who laughed at me after my initial defeat.

Shibungi and a few others climb the Endlave to clean off the paint blocking its visual devices, and so the rest of us simply wait for the fighting to resume. This gives time for Ayase and Tsugumi to take a rest, but after a couple of minutes Tsugumi suddenly bursts running into the battle grounds bearing the palest face I've ever seen on her.

"There's big trouble, everyone!"

We all immediately turn to face her, confused as of what is going on. She elaborates.

"A Leukocyte has just opened fire at point Delta!"

Silence falls upon the whole field, immediately giving rise to an indescribable tension I had never experienced before. It is Inori who speaks for all of us in despair.

"That's where Gai is!"


	18. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Due to the Dead

We all run to the library, where Tsugumi had gotten in touch with Gai during her break just moments before the Leukocyte strike.

"I was reporting about the mock battles' progress when a bright light blinded Funell's visuals. We lost contact moments later, and I've been unable to reestablish it yet."

Tsugumi explains the situation to us as she is frantically trying to link a connection to her robot's communications device. Gai had taken it with him to have secure way of calling us if he needed our forces to mobilize, but the satellite opened fire on him so suddenly that there was nothing he could've done to avoid it.

In the worst case scenario, Tsutsugami Gai is –

"He can't be dead…"

Ayase refuses to accept the thoughts crossing everyone's minds. All of us wish to think that way, but given how nobody in point Delta has picked up any of Tsugumi's attempts to reach them via radio signal, the chances of anyone's survival are slim.

However, Ayase is right. We cannot resign ourselves to believe that our leader has encountered such an unreasonable fate – the mere idea of having Gai dying on us so suddenly is inconceivable; none of us want to believe it.

"Shibungi, we must look for him."

Everyone turns to look at me as I second Ayase's words. The video recording taken by Funell before the Leukocyte's attack landed showed us that a massive level of destruction must have surely ensued in the whole area, but I too wish to cling onto the hope that my old friend is alive.

"We will. Ogumo, prepare a transport immediately; you and Argo are to take a squad with you to work as a search party."

"Take me with you."

I step forward as Shibungi gives out orders, but am stopped as he shakes his head.

"It is too dangerous for you to go; if a second shot is fired and you are killed, the fight against Sephirah will be over for us. You are to stay here and wait for Ogumo to report back. The same goes for you, Inori; you are Shu's primary weapon."

He coldly states everything as it is, not even giving Inori the chance to speak her worries. Ayase moves her wheelchair closer to Shibungi, as she certainly wants to take part in the mission as well.

"What about us?"

She must refer to the rest of Gai's original team. More than anyone else, they must be itching to go and confirm his safety. Kyo was there with him as well, so that gives them even more of a reason to want to go in themselves.

"You are too valuable to be deployed for this; Argo and Ogumo will have to suffice."

Shibungi heartlessly says that the people who he is sending for the rescue mission are, in the end, not strictly necessary for the war. Ayase is the Parlor's ace pilot, and Tsugumi is in charge of most of the communication systems and information network. Kido Kenji is in no shape to be sent to battle, and Shibungi himself is the acting leader of our forces now, so the only people left who act simply as regular soldiers are indeed Ogumo and Argo.

"We'll find him and bring him back; don't worry about us."

Argo holds Ayase's shoulder with his hand, trying to relieve her anxiety, but the wheelchair ridden girl just looks down miserably, struggling to stop herself from crying. My fists shake from how hard I'm closing them shut in vexation, unable to do anything for anyone other than uselessly waiting for news to come.

Inori holds onto my arm, pressing her forehead against it beneath my shoulder. As she does this, I come to realize her whole body is shaking, which makes me understand that her fear for Gai's demise being confirmed is much deeper than I could ever fathom.

I grasp her hand, holding down my anger so I can be here to support her. The time will come when I'll strike back at the Anti-Bodies for making her as scared and anguished as she is, but said time will not come this day – the only option within my power to take is to stand strong and be by her side to help her endure the pain.

Argo and Ogumo leave the room, while Shibungi, Tsugumi and Kenji man the computer terminal and immerse themselves with the task of gathering as much intelligence as possible from the Anti-Bodies' communications network.

"Let's go, Ayase…"

Everyone is walking out of the library given how there's nothing left for us to do there, and I motion Ayase to come with us so Tsugumi and the other two can concentrate better. There is no response from her, so I walk closer before insisting, but stop myself from opening my mouth again.

I don't need to be a psychology expert to tell that Ayase is about to have a mental breakdown, since the look in her face makes the message go across effortlessly. She buries her face into her hands, but emits no sound whatsoever: her inner self is too shaken to even operate her vocal chords.

"I'll take her to the infirmary, Tsugumi."

This girl needs to calm down, and letting her stay in the tense atmosphere of this room is hardly the best thing to do. Tsugumi doesn't part her eyes from the screen before her as she replies, not letting her friend's state make her disregard her duties.

"Please do, Shu… look after her for me."

I nod, taking the handles for Ayase's wheelchair. Inori seems to have calmed down a little, as she isn't shaking anymore and is now more concerned about Ayase's welfare than her own. She lets go of my arm so I can move properly, and the two of us exit the library together with Ayase being pushed by me.

Silence has permeated the whole building, and nobody seems to be intent on breaking its hold on it anytime soon. The only notable sound I can catch is that of a vehicle leaving the garage, which is fairly close to the medical quarters so that injured soldiers can be rushed straight to the emergency room if needed be upon arrival.

Inori opens the door for me, since I'm still pushing Ayase, and we enter the lobby. I position the wheelchair adjacent to a bed, and take a look at the girl sitting on it to see if she has gotten well enough to climb up by herself.

She's still submerged in her inner self and shows no signs of answering to my presence, so I take her in my arms and lay her down to rest. It doesn't take long for her to roll to her side opposite of me so I can't see her any more, but given how she cannot move her legs to follow her torso, she is left at a very uncomfortable position.

As discretely as I can, push her hip with my hands so she isn't badly twisted anymore and then walk away after closing the curtains around her bed to give her time and privacy. Inori is sitting in the couch by the entrance where she'd been sleeping on my lap yesterday, but this time she is waiting for me to keep her company.

I sit by her side without saying anything, and she wordlessly wraps her arms around me before hiding her face against my body again. There's little I can do other than holding her back, and the two of us stay there listening to Ayase softly crying in solitude.

Though I am tempted to go with her, I decide not to because I already am comforting Inori and also because Ayase and I aren't close enough yet for her to confide in me while she's in pain. If I went there to witness her as she is, she'd just feel worse by the fact of being observed, so I just stay here and patiently wait for her to sort out her emotions.

The clock on the wall keeps ticking, the minutes going by become hours, and still there haven't been any news about Gai and Kyo yet. But we remain here, powerless, unable to do anything to lift the stress corroding us inside.

I no longer feel my arm where Inori is resting her weight against, but I lack the heart to make her move. Ayase hasn't made any sounds for a while, which makes me believe she cried herself to sleep, so that leaves Inori's breath brushing against my neck as the only stimulus my senses can catch.

It's starting to get dark already, and the light coming from the open door leading to the corridor is every time less and less. I'm beginning to think we should return to our rooms to get proper rest.

However, the distinct noise of a vehicle approaching the vicinity catches my attention, nearly making me shoot up to my feet from the couch. Inori seems to have heard it as well, since she gets her head up from my shoulder and leans towards the open door to ascertain that she heard well.

We can discern the sound of the garage doors being opened moments afterwards, and the two of us immediately stand up and rush in search for Argo and Ogumo. The thought of waking Ayase crosses my mind, but given how we have no idea if they have Gai with them or not, I decide that letting her sleep for a while longer would be most prudent.

Inori and I make it to the garage, where a truck I'd never seen before is just being parked right before us, guided by a number of Funeral Parlor soldiers. Its doors open, and the first to step down is the driver, Ogumo.

I look to the side, sticking my eyes to the passenger's door. Tsutsugami Gai emerges from it, lifting a heavy weight from my shoulders. He is covered in blood and his uniform is ruined beyond repair, but he walks towards us nonetheless, letting us know he is alright.

Inori breaks running to him and heavily lands an embrace against his chest, forcing out some of the air inside his lungs. I don't lose any time and join them, unable to refrain from doing a group hug with my closest friend.

I pat my palm heartily against his back, still not believing we are once again together in the same place. The worries that we might be unable to keep fighting as brothers had not stopped tormenting me, and they are now swiftly being washed away as I get to confirm with my very own hands that Gai is here standing in front of us.

We stay there for a moment and then let go as Ogumo motions us to follow him.

I turn to do as I am told, but then look back at Gai before proceeding.

"Where's Kyo?"

He averts his eyes from my question, making a harrowing sense of distress encompass me.

"She's here with me."

It is Argo who replies as he steps down from the truck's back door behind me. I turn around to greet him and Kyo, but I stop in my tracks as I witness how he is bitterly holding the young girl's body in his arms.

It is until now that I distinguish that the expression in their faces is not one of joy for having made it back alive, but rather one of innermost grief and sorrow. I alternate my eyes between Gai and Argo, silently asking them what is going on, unwilling to accept what the somber atmosphere is clearly telling me has happened.

"Kyo is gone, Shu..."

What is he talking about? My hand reaches for Gai's bloodied jacket, gripping it shakily in its grasp. It cannot be… he couldn't mean that -

"… she is dead."

His words stab me like a knife to my gut, confirming what I was so desperately refusing to accept. My knees give in to my weight, but Gai stops me from falling by supporting me with his own injured self.

"We must inform the rest about it… we have too many graves to dig today."

I am made to turn around and walk with him as he says this, hinting he was the only survivor of the Leukocyte strike. There is nobody else besides Argo and Ogumo following behind us and Inori, so by every means I must be right in suspecting it.

We step into the medical quarters and Ogumo leaves us to look for Shibungi, who must evaluate Gai's condition to ascertain his life isn't in danger. After Ogumo is gone, Argo lays our deceased comrade in a bed right next to Ayase's, making her wake from her sleep.

"Shu? Is that you?"

Her throat is sore after crying so much following her breakdown, but she manages to voice some words despite the difficulty. I tug on Gai's sleeve and motion him to have a word with her, as seeing him even in his current condition must still be better for her than only being told he's fine. Shibungi is yet to arrive, so spending a minute or two with her makes little difference to Gai's injuries.

He moves the curtain aside with one of his hands, and I can see Ayase's whole body being filled with relief as soon as her eyes meet with her commander's. She looks down to hide she's about to burst crying again, and tells Gai with her finger to move closer to her.

Gai does so, lowering his torso a bit to be within her reach and Ayase slowly wraps her arms around him, openly showing how glad she is to know he made it back alive.

Inori and I walk past them to give them privacy, and we wind up sitting in the bed adjacent to Kyo's. I thought Argo was here with her, but it seems he's gone elsewhere to prepare the tools necessary to check on Gai's wounds. Therefore, it is only the two of us in front of our friend's body lying quietly before us.

Unable to take it anymore, I get up and stand right in front of her, supporting my weight with my arms just a few centimeters away from Kyo against the mattress. Inori is standing beside me as I look intently at Kyo's face, which looks as peaceful as if she were sleeping.

I grip her shoulder despite knowing she will not react, but I can't help doing it anyway, as part of me is still hoping that she will get up and tell me she's okay. Inori's touch on my hand brings me back to my senses, making me fully understand that Kyo has passed away and she will never come back to us.

The last ounce of strength keeping me standing fades away, and I crumble down to the floor miserably, holding myself straight only with the part of my torso still pushing against the bed. I only knew Kyo for a few days, but I grew to be attached enough to her that I can't avoid shedding tears of sorrow for her death.

I've already lost count of how many times Inori has hugged me today, but here she is holding me tight to her, physically conveying the point that she is here with me.

"Don't cry, Shu… if you do, then I…"

My heart is being torn to little pieces by the sound of Inori crying against the back of my shoulder. Chances are we would've stayed that way for a while, but the sound of footsteps approaching us tells me I should recover my composure.

I manage to stand up before the people get to approach us, but I have no time to hide the fact I was in tears just seconds ago. Shibungi and Ogumo are now inside the room, and I don't really want either of them to see me as I am, so I walk past them and make for the corridor together with Inori before they speak to me.

The two are sensible enough to leave me be, and Inori and I end up walking aimlessly in the cold and gradually darkening corridors of the Funeral Parlor.

Neither of us can think of anything to say, even as Tsugumi passes us by on her way to the medical quarters. I don't want to be the one telling her Kyo is dead, and I don't think I'm in a good enough state to say it out loud, so I just let her go to find out by herself. Ayase and the rest will be there for her, after all, so I doubt my presence will be necessary.

I hold Inori's hand, and part of me reminisces of just how close the two of us were from being killed less than two days ago. Because it had been so many years since I last lost someone close to me, I had already forgotten how terrifying death can be. Merely thinking of losing Inori as suddenly as Kyo strikes fear into my heart; it even makes me tremble.

Right now, more than ever before, I understand that I must look after everyone in the battlefield. I am the most powerful member of the whole group, and therefore I am the one who can best ensure that our comrades do not fall in combat.

The responsibility placed on my shoulders is enormous, but deep inside I am glad it is me who has the duty of carrying its burden. If I were to choose between being a regular guy and wielding the Power of the King, I'd have the Void Genome injected on me as many times as it were necessary for me to keep everyone alive.

I stay submerged in my thoughts as Inori and I keep walking without going anywhere, until we eventually grow tired and sit together in the dining room where a few other Parlor members are gathered.

We are offered some food, which we take without qualms: the two of us are quite hungry after such a prolonged period of stress, although my mind is still too clouded to care what the dishes are. It isn't long after we're done eating whatever we were given when the speakers inside the headquarters emit Gai's voice coming from them.

"All available personnel are to gather in the briefing room at once, except those assigned to guard and patrol duties, who are to remain in their posts until further notice.

I repeat: all available personnel are to gather in the briefing room save for those assigned to guard and patrol duties. General Gai out."

He's done with his treatment already, I assume. Inori and I get up and make way to the library along with the others who were with us. We arrive to our destination without delay, where those we left back in the medical quarters are waiting for us in front of a black coffin in the middle of the room.

We let another couple of minutes pass so everyone is gathered around and above us in the library's numerous floors, and then the Funeral Parlor's acting leader speaks.

"Five hours ago, a Leukocyte fired upon and annihilated the last remnants of the Undertakers. The men who had accompanied me were also caught in the blast, and I myself would have been a casualty had our valiant comrade, Shibutani Kyo, not protected me with her very life.

We have been dealt a stinging blow today, from which we will never fully recover. An entire company of experienced soldiers was lost, and one of our founding members has met her untimely demise at the Anti-Bodies' cowardly hands.

However, we have no time to waste leisurely licking our wounds. The GHQ has proven itself willing to openly kill hundreds of civilians to eliminate us, and there is no telling when they will use the Leukocyte system again.

As of tonight we will commence preparations to strike back at them, even without the aid of the Undertakers who had come here precisely to eliminate the orbital threat holding the entire country hostage.

Our counteroffensive will be launched in no less than seventy-two hours. Drills and simulations will be initiated tomorrow at six hundred sharp; everyone is to report to their designated posts without delay.

Lieutenants and drillmasters will be given instructions in this room at five hundred sharp, where I will inform them of the time for the subsequent briefing meets.

Moreover, all of our acting members are to be administered with a version of the Apocalypse Vaccine that Lieutenant General Shibungi has managed to successfully reinforce. He will be in the medical quarters starting from eight hundred sharp, and each Cadet will be assigned a turn by their Lieutenant to be inoculated.

The following mission will be by far the most dangerous we have yet committed ourselves to, so if anyone feels hesitant about risking being vaporized like the Undertakers were, the time to step down and retire from our ranks is now.

However, it must be clear to everyone in this room that the fate of not only the country, but also of the entire world lies in our hands. Should we fail to stop Sephirah from triggering the true Apocalypse they disguise as evolution, billions of innocent lives will be lost in the onslaught.

Therefore, I call for each and every one of you to fight shoulder to shoulder with me in the struggle for saving all those that Sephirah intends to kill. We have the Power of the King with us, and with it we will bring down the reign of oppression enforced by the villains who cultivate the virus that extinguished millions of lives ten years ago.

Now tell me, my comrades, will you assist me to eradicate the Apocalypse Virus? Will you fight with me to stop Lost Christmas from repeating itself ever again?"

"**WITH OUR VERY LIVES, COMMANDER!"**

The support of the Funeral Parlor for Tsutsugami Gai is unanimous, as everyone speaks their reply in one voice. I don't know if they're used to saying that or if all simply thought of the same thing, but witnessing how everyone other than me gave the same answer, I can't help but to admire how strongly Gai can unify people under his cause.

Even though the enemy can potentially kill all of us with just one fell strike of their invisible hammer, the entirety of the Funeral Parlor is willing to charge into battle with their leader in spite of the terrible odds against them.

If the saying is true that an ideal can't be shot down, then the men hailing at their commander will not be stopped by anything in the fight to come. And I shall be there with them, eager and ready to settle my score with the GHQ… by the life of me I swear that Kyo's death will not go unpunished.

The meet at the library was dismissed by Gai after we uttered prayers for the dead; Shibungi read the names of all the hundred and forty two casualties inflicted by the Leukocyte, and Kyo's body was taken to be cremated shortly afterwards.

I was there with Gai and the rest, witnessing how my comrade's body was reduced to ashes before our very eyes. As I watched, I couldn't help but noticing the irony that, in the end, Kyo met the same fate as all the others who died earlier. Argo suggested digging a grave for her, but Gai himself refused, saying he did not want to leave her body in a provisional base that would be abandoned in a matter of weeks.

None of us could say otherwise, as it is entirely true that this place will be left behind once the conflict over the Apocalypse Virus is finished, and so it would indeed be best for Kyo's remains to stay with her makeshift family.

After the cremation, Gai called for Tsugumi and me, telling us we should get whatever rest we could before the drills begin. I'd very much like to comply with his request, but for the past couple of hours I've been crawling around in my bed without signs of falling asleep anytime soon.

Kyo's demise has had a heavy impact on me, but for some reason I feel something else making me restless. I just can't shake off the thoughts that something is wrong, and that I should not be idling in my room the way I am.

I'd never experienced anything of the sorts before; it is as if someone else's soul were clashing against mine, causing its colors to mix with my own. This is very strange. I don't know if what I'm about to do is a good idea, but I have a hunch that it is necessary.

My hand presses against my chest as I close my eyes, concentrating in bringing my spirit to a tranquil state. Today's events still weight on my psyche, but it seems that my ability to tread in the spiritual realm has been heightened to supernatural levels.

If I put my mind to it, I can vaguely see the image of my own soul. The vision is hazy and I cannot discern its form with precision, but I am able to distinguish that the shape is not human; its form is long and slender, as if it were a snake.

I am captivated in an instant, and my soul itself seems to be aware that I am observing it as it begins to emit a green radiance. Its color is the same as my Void's, and beyond any doubt I am convinced that my soul is composed of nothing but the purest of all jades.

The serpent begins to grow agitated, seemingly wanting to tell me something. I extend my senses to converse with it, but to no avail – its voice is too faint to reach my ears. Upon understanding we cannot communicate directly, my spirit shines with increased vigor, letting me see something I had previously been unable to.

There are threads of silver enveloping it, like the ones that emerge from a Void when I draw it out. The creature swirls through them, making them more noticeable, telling me I did not understand what it wanted to say.

I strain my focus as much as possible, and upon seeing the filaments closer I realize that they aren't wrapped around the snake: it's the snake itself that is fixing them to its body.

My vision is slowly becoming clearer, and it grows sharp enough for me to see that the cords are extended from my spirit and into the distance, seemingly stretching into infinity.

I reach for the creature with my hand and it comes into contact with my fingers, which makes some of its scales permeate throughout my skin. Feeling this, I take a hold of a fraction of its body and pull on it as I make my conscience resurface to the material world.

My Void's light illuminates the whole room, but I manage to keep it controlled enough to avoid doing any damage to my surroundings. Like the last time I drew it, my senses are enhanced beyond their limits, but this time the experience is so intense that it entirely dwarves their strength during the night of my rescue.

I can see perfectly well in the pitch darkness, to the point where I can clearly distinguish that my arms aren't smooth like they were before, but rather they have scales akin to that of the spirit inside of me.

Moreover, as I look at my hands I realize that my Void has grown claws at the tips of my fingers, making me feel as if I were a lizard. Part of me wants to be marveled at the changes in me, but there is something that nags at me with greater strength than those.

Now I understand what the threads held by the snake were. Without even leaving the room, I can tell that Inori is also unable to sleep in her bed, Gai is currently making plans regarding the assault to the Leukocytes' control room, Argo is outside digging a grave to bury Kyo's personal belongings, Kenji is working with Shibungi on gathering data about the Anti-Bodies' defenses, and Tsugumi is repairing Funell again.

In other words, my spirit is linked to that of everyone who's Voids I have wielded.

I stay there in my bed for a couple of minutes as I digest everything about my discovery, as this news have hit me very heavily. It was already clear to me that the Void Genome steps into the spiritual realm and lets me materialize other people's souls… but making it go as far as linking them to me is quite extreme.

The closeness with which we are connected is tremendous – an example of this is the fact that I now understand why I felt something inexplicably bothering me: learning about Kyo's death hit Tsugumi harder than anyone else, and fixing her ruined Funell is making her feel about as horrible as I felt when I killed Mana.

Gai said Tsugumi will be absolutely needed for tomorrow's drills, but given how she is right now, I fear I'll be unable to draw her Void at all at this rate. Moreover, I myself am unable to bear knowing how she is feeling and still not do something about it.

I get up from my bed and go to the small workshop where I'd seen her tending for Funell before, the day when I was erroneously told my name was clean.

But… what's this?

Kyle is dead. He was the mole the Funeral Parlor got infiltrated into the Anti-Bodies, I still remember about his name, but why do I know he was captured and executed?

Information is flowing into my head, telling me many things about Tsugumi. She has been an orphan for as long as she can remember, and she had snuck out of the orphanage where she'd been living when Lost Christmas happened.

Gai told me about their story, but now that I'm looking into Tsugumi's memories, I can see that the two people with whom she had the closest bonds were Ayase and Kyo.

Tsugumi was initially the shy and introverted type, but after Ayase became a sort of motherly figure to her, she started gaining confidence. When Ayase contracted malaria and had a close encounter with death, Tsugumi decided she would become someone who would take care of the rest as well, and attempted to copy Kyo's cheerful attitude.

It didn't take long for her to realize that she could keep disputes from rising, and she became focused in getting everyone to work together and obey Gai like Ayase wanted.

Now it is being officially confirmed to me that Ayase has had a long-time crush for Gai, but she was afraid of confessing to him in the middle of the guerilla because either of them could be killed any day.

After Ayase was injured and lost the ability to walk, Gai spent several weeks practically at her side every day. She thought about telling him about her feelings, but when news reached her of her crush's designation as the Funeral Parlor's commander, she decided to keep the truth shut inside of her to avoid distracting him from his duty.

Tsugumi has been watching over the two ever since, still hoping that one day romance will bloom between them after the conflict with the GHQ is over.

Meanwhile, Tsugumi herself has never had a love interest in her life, and she had a conversation with Kyo about it. It turned out that Kyo was in the same situation, because the long years they spent in Africa had made both of them too rigid for such emotions.

While the two of them still saw life with a positive light, neither of them could really bring themselves to feel affection towards someone else. The reason behind this was their fear of losing the object of their love, and both of them secretly admired Ayase's courage to grow feelings for Gai despite living under such dangerous circumstances.

It was because of Ayase's influence that Tsugumi and Kyo made a promise with each other: once they retired from living as soldiers, they would work together to open themselves up to other people in hopes they'd see the same dream Ayase has sought for the past ten years.

Now that Kyo is dead, Tsugumi suddenly finds herself alone, as she no longer has anyone to talk about the matters she can't touch with Ayase or anyone else. The young girl who passed away a few hours ago was Tsugumi's closest emotional support, who knew her better than the rest, and the only one with whom she had ever made a promise in her life.

And to top that off, she is now fixing her heavily damaged Funell, whom she had programmed and named after the imaginary friend she had in the orphanage. Inside Tsugumi's heart, not only did her closest friend get killed, but also the moving icon of her childhood was practically slain as well.

Therefore, as I walk through the workshop's door, it is no surprise for me to see that she is still crying when she turns to me.

"S- Shu? Don't come to me, you don't want to –"

I don't want to see her the way she is, of course I don't, but hell does this girl need a hug.

Without even saying or asking anything, I walk directly to her and take her in my arms. She resists at first, which is only natural because I was extremely sudden, but I didn't come here empty-handed to just make the situation all the more awkward.

If I can feel other people's emotions, then I can be certain that it's possible for the others to get in touch with mine as well. This has to be the case, because the instances in which others have said exactly what I was thinking have been very numerous.

Therefore, I close my eyes and concentrate on relaying my feelings directly into Tsugumi. It seems to work, as she slowly stops showing opposition against my embrace and gradually comes to accept it as my intention to make her calm down is transferred to her.

As I suspected, the connection between us is mutual, so Tsugumi is entirely getting that I'm telling her she can confide in me all she wants and I'll be there for her no matter what. By no means do I intend to replace Kyo for her, but I can't bear seeing Tsugumi the way she is and not doing anything about it.

And so here I am, confessing that I saw into her past and rumbled through her memories, blatantly stepping over her privacy because I wanted to know why she is feeling as terrible as she is right now.

However, I make sure to transfer the point that I did that because I've come to truly care about her, and I also put heavy emphasis on transmitting my wish of simply being there for her if he ever needs a shoulder to cry upon.

Tsugumi is confused as fuck over what is happening between her and me, because just a minute ago she had no idea about our spiritual connection.

I mentally apologize to her about that as well, and let her go so we can see eye to eye.

Like I suspected, she is dumbstruck, but she'll live through it. I lower my face and offer my cheek to her, since Ayase taught me how women like venting their emotions.

"You'll feel better, trust me. And I deserve it; I did do all of this without even asking."

She was hesitant at first, but after some encouragement she slaps me with more strength than I'd have imagined her small body could muster.

I reach for her with my mind, though, and confirm that she indeed feels better. However, the pain over Kyo's loss is still hurting her very badly, so I look directly into her eyes and place my hand on her chest.

Tsugumi is confused as of what I'm doing by apparently drawing her Void, but I limit myself to only extracting about half of the sadness dwelling inside of her.

For once, I find the Void Genome to be useful for something other than killing people.

"I'm talking literally when I say I'll share your burden. You'll let me do this much, right?"

I explain myself a little, given how we've hardly spoken any words since my sudden arrival. However, I do add a bit via our spiritual link.

'_I don't want you to ever feel alone again, after all.'_

Tsugumi wraps her short arms around me, pressing her head against my chest.

"You like seeing girls cry, don't you?"

Oh. She's crying again, just like she said, but I can sense that she is glad about my visit this time, so I smile and hug her back while brushing her hair with my hand. For a moment I thought my still-extracted Void would hurt her, because it is usually as hard as stone, but I come to realize that it softened up as soon as I touched her.

"Only when they're happy about it."

Tsugumi laughs a little at my reply, lightening the mood.

"Thanks for coming, Shu… I needed someone to be with me."

She tightens her hold on me a little, warming my heart like there's no tomorrow. I had no idea of how she'd react to my intervention, and I'm damn glad she took it so well; had things gone wrong, she'd have ended up hating me for looking so much inside of her.

I apply more strength to my arms as well, and concentrate in deepening the connection between us. The relief spreading inside of us intertwines, revolving around each other and creating a cycle in which we experience a sense closeness that would be otherwise impossible to achieve.

"By the way; you'll forgive me about the prank with your Void, right?"

Ugh! My ribs! Tsugumi punches them with one of her fists, physically telling me she didn't find it funny at all, but her mind is telling me otherwise as I can tell she is laughing inside of her head.

"Just this time, silly… if you do it again, I won't let you off."

Uh oh. What's this? This is very bad. Tsugumi is feeling a little too positively about me, and I think I should let go of her right now because I don't want to start a love triangle. Strange as it may sound, I came here to comfort Tsugumi because I honestly care about her, yet there is no romantic interest from my part towards her– I already have Inori.

Ah, shit! Tsugumi's love meter is starting to reach dangerously high levels! The impact of my arrival was magnified greatly because she felt like shit and subconsciously really wanted someone to show up, and I messed up by overusing our spirit link to the point where I unknowingly created a deep sense of intimacy between us.

She's still hugging me quietly, but if things carry on like this then she'll start acting like the clone for real, and I'd find myself in the crossroads of rejecting her and making her feel worse, or answering her feelings and betray Inori.

Of course, cheating on Inori is out of the question, so for this girl's sake, someone must break us apart before I do so myself! Come on, anyone, please!

"Tsugumi?"

I love you, Ayase.

"A- Aya-nee!? T- this is not what it looks like, absolutely not!"

Tsugumi lets go of me instantly, startled by her friend's timely arrival.

"Right… I see you don't miss any opportunities, Shu."

God damn it, my standing with Ayase has just plummeted to the ground.

"Aya-nee, wait! I'm serious, this isn't what –"

Mini-tomato-san rushes to stop her friend as she's about to leave the workshop, but Ayase waves her off with her hand.

"Don't worry, Tsugumi, I won't tell Inori about it. You can go on, just don't be too noisy."

There is no way in hell I can let this misunderstanding stand. I hurry to get Ayase before she closes the door on us, and she stops, but she turns to face me with far more hostility than I had ever seen her bear before.

"What do you want? Do you intend to draw me in too?"

She's very pissed off, and I can bet she'll break a few of my bones if I come anywhere within her arms' reach. This will be tough…

"Ayase, I'll let you hit me all you want, but please let me draw your Void before that."

I absolutely must create a spiritual link with her so that she'll believe my story. She doesn't appear to be too cooperative, though, and looks at me as if she wanted to choke me dead.

"Why, so you can touch me too? You've got your Void out already, why should I lend you mine as well?"

Bloody hell, she's very resistant about this; I won't get through her barrier alone.

"Aya, please do as he says! You'll understand everything if you let him; I'm begging you!"

Fortunately, Tsugumi joins my efforts and presses her friend to comply with my request. The odds are terribly against us, however, because Ayase is currently wearing a very thin white dress she likely uses to sleep, and I can tell she's not using a bra right now.

Yes, her boobs look majestic, I can't deny that.

Oh, shit! Tsugumi is giving me a killer look – I had entirely forgotten our minds are connected, so she must've surely sensed what I was thinking! Fuck, fuck, fuck!

"Come on, Aya, give him one chance to explain. Everything will be clear if you let him take your Void, so please, do it for me just this time!"

Good thing that Tsugumi is still on my side on this, or else I could've considered my friendship with Ayase to be beyond salvation.

The girl in question stares long and hard at me, then at Tsugumi, then back at me. She looks greatly distressed about making a decision, but at last she speaks.

"If you get a boner, I'll rip your thing off. With that said, you can go on."

I sigh, not doubting the seriousness of her threat. Focus, Shu, this is part of the business.

Tsugumi grabs my arm before I reach for Ayase's chest, however, and I turn to look at her in question. She appears to be concentrating on something as she fixes her eyes upon mine, and surprisingly I come to hear her thoughts inside my head.

'_Be discrete about… you know…'_

Ah, everything she and Kyo discussed in private. Okay… I'll try as hard as I can to omit that, but I can't make any promises.

'_Shu, please!'_

'_Alright, alright! I'm sorry; I won't tell her anything you don't want her to know.'_

Tsugumi sighs in relief.

"Thanks."

Ayase seems confused, as most of the exchange happened without us saying a word. She'll understand soon enough, though, so there's no need to explain it to her.

I look into Ayase's eyes and move my hand towards her, but stop again before making contact. There's something I must do before extracting her Void.

"Ayase, this is news to us, but I'll tell you beforehand. If I draw your Void, a link between us will be established, and I'll be able to look inside your mind without restriction. I learned this just now with Tsugumi, and so I want to tell you about the implications behind letting me touch your soul."

The expression in her face immediately changes, like it should have, since just now I revealed to her an extremely significant truth about the act of drawing Voids. She is stunned by the revelation, and I can see she doesn't know what to say.

"You can trust him with this, Aya, he won't abuse his power like others would. He may be a bit pushy about how he does things, but Shu is in fact a really good guy.

Besides, he'll be the key for achieving our objective, so having the connection I now share with him will be imperative for you to fight by his side.

Gai will ask you to lend him your Void sooner or later anyway, so stop fussing about and do it already! Hesitating isn't like you, Aya-nee."

Whoa, Tsugumi is really pressing her into doing this.

"Easy, easy. Let her think about it; her entire privacy is at stake."

Ayase looks suspiciously at me as I tell her friend to calm down.

"This isn't another one of his pranks, is it?"

Tsugumi sighs.

"It isn't, believe me. You'll get along with him much better once you're connected, though, so I can honestly say it's worth a shot. Besides, since Shu will be able to peek into our pasts, he'll be kind enough to show us about his as well. He is a gentleman, after all."

That one hurt.

"You are a devil, Tsugumi."

She smiles at me.

"I'm only being fair."

I can't deny that, though.

"Fine, I'll let you look into me all you want. Except about Inori, got it?"

Ayase will chop my head off if she learns of what I did with that girl yesterday.

'_Really? What did you do with her?'_

'_Tsugumi, I'll sever our connection if you try to dig into it.'_

'_Alright, I understand... you meanie.'_

Bah. This thing about telepathy has its downsides. However, I guess that's what it means for two souls to be linked together, so I won't make a fuss about it…

"Are you sure we can trust him, Tsugumi?"

Ayase is still resistant to the idea of opening herself to me. It's not a surprise, though, since I myself feel somewhat intimidated about showing my past to these two. I've already said I'll do it, however, so I'll stick to my word.

"You'd be convinced immediately if you could hear to his thoughts, I swear."

I check inside Tsugumi's mind and see that she's honest about it, and I realize that she still feels warm and fluffy inside when she looks at me. Uh… how should I say this?

'_Don't get your hopes up, I belong to Inori alone.'_

Ah, shit. That was quite direct, wasn't it?

'_Do you really think she's the greedy type?'_

What have I done?

'… _I had no idea you were so bold.'_

'_You were very careless, Shu; I won't give up easily.'_

Is she for real? God, I don't have any room for doubts, I know she is – I can see into her head and her intentions are clear as day.

'_I've got a very bad feeling about this. Just to get things straight, I'll tell you right now that I won't cheat on Inori. If you want to get me, you'll have to personally obtain permission from her.'_

"Uh, guys? What's going on?"

Oh, Ayase is still here.

"Sorry, your friend here…"

I pause midway, not knowing what to say.

"You were making very suspicious faces just now."

She definitely noticed, even though we didn't speak anything out loud.

"You're just imagining things! Now, back to your Void – let's go!"

'_Don't tell her a word about this.'_

'_What!? Tsugumi, she'll be able to hear it if I even think about it! I don't know if making mental barriers is possible, and even if it is, I have no idea of how to do such a thing.'_

'_Then don't think about it at all; we'll talk in private later.'_

'_You're really persistent.'_

'_And you're a ladies' man, so it's your fault.'_

'_I'm kind of starting to regret –'_

'_You've just made me fulfill my promise with Kyo, so you should be proud.'_

I'm blushing. Stupid Tsugumi. But no! Inori, Inori, Inori! I won't fail as her boyfriend!

'_That just makes me want you even more, Shu.'_

"So, Ayase! May I?"

I close off my mind to Tsugumi. Or well, I at least imagine myself doing so… and it seems to work, somehow, as I no longer hear her inside my head.

Meanwhile, Ayase sighs, resigning herself to becoming closer to me than any two other people could ever be.

"Go ahead; I don't care. Tsugumi never insists so much about anything, so just this time."

You have no idea of what you're getting yourself into, young girl. But it is true that Gai would have me draw her Void anyway at some point during the war, so I might as well accelerate the process by a few days.

"If you'll excuse me, then."

I press my hand against her chest and look into her eyes. The light of her soul shines from beneath my palm, but I take it slow and feel her spirit before grasping it; I'd like to avoid making a mess in the room, after all. There's also the inevitable partial boob contact in the lower section of my hand, so there's no need to rush.

Before I know it, I'm placing my other hand on Ayase's shoulder, and I'm drawing my face closer to hers so I can see even deeper into her eyes. Just the way how I could discern an entity existing inside me, I can see the form of the spirit within Ayase.

It is… a gazelle, of all things. Gracious and agile, this girl's soul is that of a being meant to do the one thing she is unable to – running. Just witnessing her caged the way she is makes a horrible feeling well up inside of me, but for some reason I am compelled to take her void out in this moment.

I reach for the beautiful being before me and it answers to me in kind, letting me hold part of its existence to draw it out to the physical world. At the same time, I can see how the filaments of her soul are taken in the firm grip of the serpent inside of me, whose shape I am yet to fully distinguish.

A pair of greaves materialize upon Ayase's legs, and I bring my mind back to reality so that I can witness the scene unfold. For just a moment I can see the reflection of my soul's jade light in Ayase's eyes, but I force myself to cast that aside so I that can look at her while she realizes what her Void can do.

The change in her is immediate, and she entirely fails to hide her surprise. I concentrate on establishing a link between the two of us, and I get to experience firsthand the rush of joy as she learns about the power of her greaves.

I take a step back and open my mind to Tsugumi as well, so that she can share the moment with her friend. For the life of me, I can't tell which of the two is happier right now: Ayase, as she stands up from her wheelchair thanks to her Void, or Tsugumi, who is charging at her friend with arms wide open.

I turn around to give them some privacy while they celebrate, but I cheat by keeping the spirit link clear and strong so I'm not left out either way. Both of them are aware that I'm doing far more than just watching them, but it is necessary for me to do so if they want a connection between them, and thus they show no qualms about me being their mediator.

Ayase's mood has drastically improved, so I add a small extra bit and start transmitting to her the memories of how I came to find Tsugumi in this room crying alone. When I begin sharing how the two of us ended up hugging, I sense Ayase herself approaching me.

I turn around and – Grace of the Gods – she wraps me tightly in her embrace.

BOOB CONT-

AGH! MY RIBS!

"You'll never stop being a pervert."

Ayase hit me exactly where Tsugumi did a while ago, and it hurts like the living hell. However, I can sense Ayase isn't all too mad about it, partly because she's still hugging me and mostly because –

"But you've got my thanks."

Yep, because of that. I can still feel her boobs, so I must admit I'm thankful as well.

"I'm a gentleman and all, it's only natural."

I'm an asshole, too.

"I agree."

See? Tsugumi supports me.

"About the asshole part, surely."

Ayase, please.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! It's just…"

She doesn't need to say it; I can tell she really was mad at me because I totally looked like a philanderer that was seducing her friends under her very nose. Moreover, I did prank her and Tsugumi quite heavily the other day, so she had plenty of reasons to get angry.

I keep updating her with how I fixed the things I screwed up with Tsugumi, but do keep largely quiet about everything regarding Kyo. I'm starting to get a better hang in controlling what I let them know, and – uh…

"Ayase?"

At some point she started flying around the workshop. It looked weird at first, but now I realize that her greaves have a sort of propulsion mechanism, so she can practically levitate and move in the air with them at will.

"Ah, sorry… I got excited."

She was about to kill me a few minutes ago, and now she's a little girl.

"Well, YOU haven't been stuck in a wheelchair for four years!"

I know, damn it, I know! I'm sorry.

"Hold your horses, Ayase! Shu has something to tell us."

And here goes Tsugumi, reminding me of things I wanted to forget.

"You did promise to, so you'd better be a man and keep your word."

She presses me to begin my story already, and I am about to comply, but something crosses my head before I do.

"Hold on – I must ask you something beforehand. Has Gai told you about his past?"

I have no idea if he told them about his time with me. He never spoke about himself when Mana and I asked him, so chances are he did the same with Ayase and the rest.

Their expressions change at once upon hearing my question. I try looking into their heads, but their very thoughts stop me from doing so.

'_Gai ordered us not to tell him anything about her.'_

This has to do directly with Mana. They reacted to her name, and therefore they undoubtedly know things Triton does not want me to learn yet.

I shut our mental connection off to avoid hearing anything.

"Well, back to the old method. Gai also told me not to inquire about my sister, so I'll back down for now to avoid messing up."

With all the willpower I can muster, I avert the subject at once.

The two girls stay in silence for a moment, but Tsugumi speaks up before I do.

"Shu… how can you say that? If I were you, I'd look it up immediately."

Yeah, it's normal for her to wonder that. I must admit, curiosity is really itching at me without mercy, but I have a reason to heed Triton's warnings.

"Did Gai tell you we knew each other when we were children?"

The two of them nod.

"And did he tell you why he was kidnapped?"

Their expressions grow bitter, but they nod again.

"Then I'll show you why I'm hesitating; just wait for a bit."

I close my eyes and dig into the memories I don't want to recall. Naturally, I can find them without effort: the anguish of killing my own sister, the terror of watching her body be shattered before my eyes – all about that moment is impossible for me to forget.

Careful not to delve into their thoughts, I reopen the link between us to replay for them the scene that was burned into my mind. I quickly feel my psyche deteriorating, as the Void Genome is making me remember everything way too vividly.

The gasps of Triton struggling to breathe, the screams of Mana as she fell from the stairs, the cracking of her bones as she fell down through them, the pieces of crystal scattering through the floor as if she had been made of glass.

I am reminiscing about everything in a dangerously accurate way, and my head is commencing its breakdown when Ayase and Tsugumi snap me out of it together.

They push me to the floor, as the two were also deeply affected by seeing and feeling what I went through that day. The three of us are sweating from the tension, and both girls end up letting their weight down on me as I loosen the link connecting us.

I still feel like shit by the mere act of remembering that day, but they don't have to continue sharing the experience with me – I only wanted them to know why Mana's secret still has to be kept hidden from me.

"What's this entire ruckus?"

All three of us turn to the door in unison, where Tsutsugami Gai is staring at us with a horrified look. He just walked into a room in the middle of the night, inside which he found his friend in the floor with two beautiful girls sweating on top of him.

Immediately, the three of us explain in one voice.

"This isn't what it seems to be!"

* * *

><p><em>Drastic divergence from canon:<em>

_Shu's Void has many new properties, and the action of extracting Voids from other people also has many new implications on it. I'll explain here to avoid confusion and also to justify the reason behind the changes._

_There' will be spoilers here, so stop reading this note if you'd like to find out until later. If you're too confused about the telepathy and want to read about it despite getting spoiled, then here it goes._

_The Void Genome bestows The Power of the King, which is practically the right to become humanity's sovereign ruler. In the original animation, Shu's Void was extremely weak and limited to having other people around him letting him their strength. _

_That sucked, because Shu's only means of ruling was saying "Hey guys, could you please let me draw your Voids? I am powerless without them, and I can't really do anything if you don't simply accept me as the King and cooperate with me."_

_That is not a King, and proof of that is the fact that he was nearly killed when a bunch of mere students rebelled against him in the anime. How would the Power of the King be so weak that he couldn't even successfully govern over a group of teenagers?_

_It looked more like the Power of the Poser haha. Therefore, I put some thought into how to fix the severe lack of power Shu had as a ruler, and the answer was the following: anyone who's Void is drawn by Shu becomes his subject – a servant. _

_The cause of becoming a subject is the spiritual connection formed between the servant and the King during the Void extraction process, which forms a kind of contract between them. _

_The subjects will be forever linked to their King's soul, and the King will be able to see, feel and understand everything about his subjects, but the subjects also become able to understand their King. In a way, the subjects and the King become a composite existence – a set of unified souls living in different bodies. _

_The final result is that the King can prosperously govern over his people because he can understand each and every one of their worries and needs. The people lose all their privacy and a portion of their individuality in the process, but their compensation is having a King who will look after them better than anyone else possibly could._

_Some things are lost, and some others are gained – that's the way things go._

_Of course, if a tyrant was to rise then the people would be done for, but Shu is a good guy and he won't do that. (Or will he? Mwahahahaha!)_

_Anyway, thanks to the connection, Shu can efficiently notice if someone intends to betray him like Arisa in the anime, so he is now also able to extinguish any uprisings before they even begin. _

_All of Shu's new abilities have been designed specifically to make him fit for ruling, so now I finally feel comfortable calling the Void Genome's effect as "The Power of the King."_

_I hope you like the renewed version as much as I do. _

_Feedback is welcome and greatly appreciated, so please don't hesitate to contact me. _

_Thanks for reading so far!_

_- Vuken _


	19. Shackles of Guilt Status

Hello, everyone. It's been a while since I last updated, so I'll make an announcement about Shackles of Guilt's status and estimated release date.

First and foremost, I'm making a complete overhaul of all the published material, so the chapters currently uploaded in the site will be updated by the new text. I've done a general improvement to the narrative and writing style, to make the story more pleasant to read. Moreover, even though the events that happen are mostly the same, I have added a lot of new material that you will need to read in order to understand what's going on in the late part of the story.

Just for a little sneak peek, I'll spoil you this:

Remember in Chapter 6 when Shu and Gai talk for the first time? The part where Gai explains to him the nature of the Void Genome and the Power of the king? Well, there's new stuff in that chapter, with the most important change being Gai actually telling Shu what he didn't get to tell him about Mana before.

That little piece of information plays a major role in the story from then onwards, so you'll really need to read it if you won't want to get lost later on. I know it's kind of a bother to reread the same story, but trust me on this one; the changes are for the story's own good!

Second, I'll make a full release of the whole story somewhere in June. I won't be updating individual chapters periodically like I did at first, and like I said before, chapters 1 through 16 will be updated to the new version, so if you want to keep them for memories' sake, I'd advise you to back the old versions up before they vanish into oblivion.

Third, I'll be making a Facebook page for Shackles of Guilt after its final release, in which I'm going to upload all the documents I used in the making of the story. There we'll be able to discuss about the writing methods and techniques I used, trivia about where I got ideas from, and whatever else you might want to discuss with me about. I'll also be letting you know of the other projects I'm working on through the Facebook page, so if you'd like to keep reading from me, make sure to stay in touch over there.

Finally, I'll be making a Spanish translation of Shackles of Guilt, so if your native language is Spanish then you'll be able to read it like that as well. Just be warned, even though I'm a native Spanish speaker myself, I have much more experience writing in English! Some parts in the Spanish version might feel a little groggy because of that, so bear with me.

And well, that's all for now. Stay tuned, for the next time I upload you will have the entirety of Shackles of Guilt to read at your leisure!

- Vuken


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